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THE 


SCENERY  AND  ANTIQUITIES 


OF 


IRELAND, 


ILLUSTRATED  FROM 


DRAWINGS  BY  W.  H.  BARTLETT; 


THE    LITERARY    PORTION   OP   THE   WORK 


BY 


N.   P.    WILLIS,  AND   J.    STIRLING   COYNE,  ESQRS. 


"  Erin  mavourneen .'" 

Where  is  thy  land  ?  "  'Tis  where  the  woods  are  waving, 
In  their  dark  richness  to  the  summer  air ; 

Where  the  blue  streams,  a  thousand  flower-banks  laving, 
Lead  down  the  hills  in  veins  of  light, — 'tis  there." 


VOL.  I. 


LONDON :— GEORGE  VIRTUE. 


LONDON : 

JOSEPH    RICKERDV,    PRINTEE, 
S11ER120UUN    LANE. 


W73 
v.i 


631070 


*. 


PREFACE. 


"  As  the  soil  is,  so  the  heart  of  man,"  says  Lord  Byron.  It  is,  indeed, 
remarkable  how  closely  the  character  and  disposition  of  a  people  will  be 
found  to  assimilate  to  the  natural  features  of  the  clime  they  inhabit,  and 
how  deeply  the  human  mind  is  tinctured  by  the  bright  or  gloomy  scenes 
upon  which  it  is  accustomed  to  dwell.  Pursuing  this  fanciful  theory,  we 
imagine  we  can  trace  in  the  chequered  character  of  the  Irish  people  a 
reflection  of  the  varied  aspect  of  the  country.  Their  exuberant  gaiety, 
their  deep  sadness,  their  warm  affections,  their  fierce  resentment,  their 
smiles  and  tears,  their  love  and  hatred,  all  remind  us  forcibly  of  the 
light  and  shadows  of  their  landscapes  ;  where  frowning  precipices  and 
quiet  glens,  wild  torrents  and  tranquil  streams,  lakes  and  Avoods,  vales 
and  mountains,  sea  and  shore,  are  all  blended  by  the  hand  of  Nature  be- 
neath a  sky,  now  smiling  in  sunshine,  now  saddening  in  tears. 

The  object  of  the  Publisher  has  been  to  transfer  to  the  pages  of  these 
volumes  the  most  interesting  and  remarkable  gems  of  Irish  Scenery, 
and  to  present  to  his  subscribers  a  series  of  Pen  and  Pencil  Illustrations 
of  the  charms  of  the  Green  Isle  of  the  West.  But  while  the  artist  and 
authors  have  been  seeking  by  lake  and  mountain  the  wild  and  beautiful 
in  Nature,  they  have  not  overlooked  the  time-honoured  memorials  of  Art, 
which  lie  scattered  so  plentifully  through  the  country.  The  desolate 
castles  and  fortalices,  moss-grown  and  hoar  with  age ;  the  mouldering 
relics  of  ecclesiastical  greatness ;  the  green  raths  and  mounds,  with  their 


IV  PREFACE. 

old  legends  and  fairy  traditions  ;  the  solemn  and  mysterious  monuments 
of  Pagan  superstition ;  in  short,  nothing  has  been  omitted  that  was 
likely  to  awaken  interest  or  excite  attention,  and  that  could  consistently 
with  the  design  of  the  work  be  brought  within  its  limits. 

The  Engravings  have  in  every  instance  been  taken  from  Drawings  made 
on  the  spots  they  illustrate,  by  MR.  BARTLETT,  whose  pencil  has  already 
attained  a  high  reputation,  by  his  graceful  and  truthful  delineations  of 
the  scenery  of  America,  Switzerland,  Scotland,  the  Bosphorous,  &c. 

The  literary  department  has  been  confided  to  Mr.  N.  P.  WILLIS  and 
Mr.  J.  S.  COYNE.  The  first-named  gentleman  has  contributed  a  por- 
tion of  the  letter-press  which  describes  the  scenery  of  the  north  of 
Ireland,  part  of  Connemara,  the  river  Shannon,  Limerick,  and  Water- 
ford.  The  latter  writer  has  contributed  the  entire  volume  illustrating  the 
scenery  of  Cork  and  Kerry,  the  far-famed  lakes  of  Killarney,  Glengariff, 
Bantry  Bay,  the  southern  and  western  coasts  of  the  island  as  far  north 
as  Galway  Bay,  Dublin  and  its  vicinity,  and  the  picturesque  beauties  of 
the  county  of  Wicklovv. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOL.  I. 


CHAP.  I.     Embark  from  Port  Patrick — Douaghadee — Carrickfcrgus — An  Irish  Jaunting-Car — Holly- 
•Cave  Hill  —  BELFAST — Fondness  of  the  Irish  for  Dancing  and  Music  —  The  Irish  Harp 


Piurv 


•ood — Cave  Hill  —  BELFAST — Fondness  of  the  Irish  for  Dancing  and  Music  —  The  Irish  Harp 
Society — An  Irish  Harper— A  Peasant's  Cabin — Droghcda — The  Battle  of  the  Boyne         .  .         1— 20 

CHAP.  II.    Drogheda — MALAIIIDE  CASTLE — Miraculous  Image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin — BOSS-TREVOR 

— Character  of  the  Irish  Peasantry — MONUMENT  OF  GENERAL  Ross — CASTLE  OF  NARROW  WATER      20— 2(! 

CHAP.  III.  View  of  BELFAST  LOUGH  from  Cave  Hill — CASTLE  OF  CARRICKFERGUS — lloacl  from 
Cave  Hill  to  Larne — L.UINE — Ruins  of  the  Castle  of  Olderflcet — Curraiin,  where  Edward  Bruce 
landed — Island  Magee — Cromlech  and  Rocking-Stonc  ......  27 — .'il 

CHAP.  IV.  Beauty  of  the  Coast  between  Larne  and  Glcnarm — Village  and  Castle  of  Glenarm — 
Monastery  of  Glcnarm — Its  ancient  History — Anecdote  of  an  Abbot — GLENARM  BAY — VALE  OF 
GLENARIFF— Inn  of  Cushcndall — Promontory  of  FAIR  HEAD  .....  2C— 37 

CHAP.  V.  The  Grey  Man's  Path— Accidents  on  the  Cliffs — Ballyoastle — Discovery  of  an  ancient 
Colliery — CASTLE  OF  KEXBAXF — CARRICK-A.REDE — Danger  in  approaching  this  insulated  Rock 
— CASTLE  OF  DUNSEVEHICK — Rathlin  Island  .......  37 — 4;l 

CHAP.  VI.     First  View  of  THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY — Strange  phenomenon  on  Portrush  Point — 

PLEASKIN  CLIFF — CAVE  OF  DUNKERRY          ........      43— 48 

CHAP.   VII.      Breakfast  at   Bushmills — DUM.UCE   CASTI.E — The   Banshee  Housemaids  —  Perilous 

Pathway  to  the  Ruins — Ancient  Traditions  of  the  Castle — Extraordinary  Boat  Race         .  .       48 — 53 

CHAP.  VIII.  Dunluee  to  Coleraine  and  Limavady — Londonderry,  its  situation  and  appearance — 
Siege  of  Dcrry — CLOSING  THE  GATES  UY  THE  APPRENTICE  BOYS — The  Town  Walls  and  WAL- 
KER'S PILLAR — Road  from  Dcrry  to  Eniiiskillcu — DEVENISH  ISLAND — The  Irish  Funeral  Cry 
— Lough  Erne — Monastic  and  Antiquarian  Relics  on  Dcvenish  Island — Round  Tower  .  .  53 — 02 

CHAP.  IX.  BALLYSHANNOX— SLIOO  ABHF.Y  and  Town— HAZI.E  WOOD  AND  LOUGH  GILL— BALLINA 
— Salmon  Fishing  on  the  Moy — ROSERK  ABBEY — THE  ABBEY  OF  MOYNE — Killala  Bay — Land- 
ing of  the  French  in  1798,  and  occupation  of  the  Town  ...... 

CHAP.  X.  LOUGII  CONN  and  MOUNT  NF.PHIN — PONTOON  BRIDGE — Castlebar — WESTPOIIT — CLEW- 
BAY — Clare  Island,  and  the  Ruins  of  Gruna  Uailc's  Castle — Traditions  respecting  her — Killcry 
Harbour — The  Joyce  Country,  and  "big  Jack  Joyce"  — LEENANE — Lord  Sligo's  LODGE  AT 
DELPHI  .....  .  .  72 — .So 

CHAP.  XI.  Conncmara,  its  wild  grandeur — The  Lake  of  Kylcmorc — Harbour  of  Clifden — The  Cas- 
tle—Character of  the  Connemara  People — Ballinahineh  Castle  —  Remarkable  Mountains — THE 
TWELVE  PINS  of  Binabola — A  PATTERN  IN  CONNEMARA  ......  81 — So 

CHAP.  XII.  GARROMIN  LAKE — Flynn's  Inn — St.  Patrick's  Well,  a  famous  place  of  Pilgrimage — 
Life  of  St.  Patrick  .  .  .  ..... 

CHAP.  XIII.  Approach  to  Gahvay— Spanish  Aspect  of  the  People  and  the  Town— A  STREET  IN 
GALWAY — Story  of  Lynch  Fitzstephen,  the  Warden  of  Gahvay— VIEW  OF  GALWAY  FROM  THE 
CLADDAH— Singular  Character  of  the  Claddah  people — CLARE  GALWAY  ABBEY  .  .  95—100 

CHAP.  XIV.  The  Shannon — CI.ONMACNOISE,  Ruins  of  the  Seven  Churches  there — DOORWAY  OF 
M'DERMOT'S  CHURCH,  and  antique  STONE  CROSS — The  Shannon,  from  Portuma  to  Castle  Con- 
nell— THE  RAPIDS  OF  DOON ASS— View  of  LIMERICK  AND  THE  SHANNON  FROM  THE  CATHE- 
DRAL TOWER — The  Cathedral  Bells — CASTLE  OF  KING  JOHN  —  Description  of  the  Town — 
Thomond  Bridge,  BAAL'S  BRIDGE,  and  WELLESLEY  BRIDGE — Course  of  the  Shannon  .  .  101 — 112 

CHAP.  XV.  The  Shannon  near  Tarbert — Scattery  Island  — Kilkce,  a  favourite  Watcring-Place— 
Singular  Scene  on  the  Shore— Primitive  Fishing  Canoe— An  Irish  Cabin— The  PUFFING-ROCK 
— Caves  of  Ballybunnian  —  Volcanic  appearance  of  the  Cliffs — Ancient  Baths  at  Kilkee — Fairy 
Superstitions — •  Witchcraft  in  Ireland  .......  -  112 — 138 

CHAP.  XVI.  The  ROCK  OF  CASHEL— Ecclesiastical  Ruins  thereon — Noble  View  from  the  summit 
of  the  Ruins— Legend  of  the  Foundation  of  Cashel — The  Cathedral— KING  CORMAC'S  CHAPEL — 
Hore  Abbey— Racket's  Abbey— Romantic  Irish  Legend  of  Daireen  and  Fithir — ABBEY  OF  HOLY 
CROSS — View  on  entering  Kilkenny— The  CASTLE  OF  KILKENNY  —  The  CATHEDRAL  OF  ST. 
CANICE— Its  Antiquarian  Relics — St.  John's  and  the  Black  Abbey— The  Lady  Alice  Kettell, 
the  reputed  Witch— JERPOINT  ABBEY,  a  splendid  architectural  Ruin  .  138—159 

CHAP.  XVII.  WATERFORD — The  Wooden  Bridge  over  the  Suir— LISMOHE  CASTLE,  once  the  pro- 
perty of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh— The  BLACKWATER  BELOW  DROMANA — Beauty  of  this  River — 
bromana  and  the  Lords  of  Desmond— Town  of  Lismore  ......  160—170 


])(•! 
1)1 


DIRECTIONS  FOR  THE  BINDER. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  TO  VOL.  I. 


To  face  Pfigt 

PORTRAIT  or  Mn.  WILLIS  ta  prcce de  the  Vig- 
nette, (PlIOUL  A  PllUCA.) 

MAP   OF   IltELAND 1 

C.VRR1CKFERGUS  CASTLE 2 

BELFAST  LOUGH 5 

INTERIOR  OF  A  ROOM  AT  MALAHIDE  CASTLE   .  23 

ROSSTREVOR  PIER 24 

MONUMENT  OF  GENERAL Ro?s,RossTREVOR    .  25 

NARROW-WATER  CASTLE 26 

LARNE 29 

GLENARM 32 

GLENARIFF,  COUNTY  ANTRIM*         .        .        .35 

FAIRHEAD 36 

KENBANE  CASTLE 39 

CARRICK-A-REDE 40 

DUNSEVERICK  CASTLE 41 

THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY  (FROM  ABOVE)          .  43 

SCENE  ON  THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY         .        .  45 

PI.AISKIN  CLIFF,  NEAR  THE  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY  46 

DCNKERRY  CAVE 47 

DCSLUCE  CASTLE 48 

LONDONDERRY 53 

WALKER'S  PILLAR,  WALLS  OF  LONDONDERRY  58 

DEVENISH  ISLAND 59 

BALLYSHANNON          ...                .        .  62 

ABBEY  OF  SLIGO 63 

HAZLEWOOD  AND  LOUGH  GILL        .        .        .64 

BALLINA 65 

ROSERK  ABBEY 66 

ABBEY  OF  MOYNE 67 

LOUOH  CONN  AND  MOUNT  NEPMIN         .        .  72 

PONTOON  BRIDGE  AND  LOUGH  CONN      .        .  73 
CLEW  BAY,  FROM  WESTPORT  .        .        .        .74 


To  feet  Page 
DELPHI  LODGE,  CONNEMAHA  .        .        .79 

LEENANE,  CONNEMARA 80 

EAGLE  MOUNTAIN,  KILLERIES  .  .  .81 
A  PATTERN  IN  CONNEMARA  ....  83 

GARROMIN  LAKE 85 

A  STREET  IN  GALWAY 95 

GALWAY  FROM  THE  CLADDAGH  .  .  .99 
ABBEY  OF  CLARE-GALWAY  ....  100 
THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES,  CLONMACNOISE  .  101 
ENTRANCE  DOORWAY  OF  TEMPLE  M'DERMOTT  103 
ANCIENT  CROSS,  CLONMACNOISE  .  .  .  104 
DOONASS  RAPIDS,  NEAR  CASTLE  CONNELL  .  105 
THE  SHANNON,  FROM  THE  TOWER  OF  LIME- 
RICK CATHEDRAL 106 

CASTLE  OF  LIMERICK 107 

OLD  BAAL'S  BRIDGE,  LIMERICK  .  .  .  108 
WELLESLEY  BRIDGE,  LIMERICK  .  .  .  109 
PUFFING-HOLE  NEAR  KlLKEE  .  .  .  120 
APPROACH  TO  CASHEL  FROM  THE  NORTH  .  138 

ROCK  OF  CASHEL 139 

RUINS  AT  CASHEL 140 

CORMAC'S  CHAPEL,  CAEIIEL  ....  141 
INTERIOR  OF  CASHEL  ABBEY  .  .  .  142 

HOLY  CROSS  ABBEY 149 

INTERIOR  OF  HOLY  CROSS  ABBEY  .        .        .  150 

KILKENNY  CASTLE 151 

ST.  CANICE,  KILKENNY 163 

JERPOINT  ABBEY 168 

THE    QUAY,  WATERFORD,    AND  REGINALD'S 

TOWER 161 

LISMORE  CASTLE        .«• 162 

THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  BLACKWATEK        .  163 


•  This  Plate  has  been  inadvertently  written  by  the  Engraver  "  GlenffarinV  instead  of  "  Glenariff  county  Atttrim,"  and  the  miiuke  escaped 
notice  until  it  had  pasted  through  many  of  the  early  impressions  -.—the  reader  will  observe  that  the  proper  plate  to  place  opposite  to  page  35, 
u  that  which  represents,  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  engraving,  the  natural  passage  through  the  rock  at  Red  Bay. 


THE  p 

With    i 


SCENERY    O 


colly, 
a   Ions; 
her  ns 
tercet- 


:tll  p<->liliral  and  relitri' 
that  m-ium*.  I   should 


lumtii  m\  law  vvwtwani,  ;.*'. "•  ;!<     '  -|'l'i   nu  >  iinii-on     ;i-t ..-,  ai 

tin  followed   tho  example     i  st         «  •'  k,  suid  etJibarkcd    . 

narrowest  point  of  the  Channel  for  Ireland  i'mlnck  was  named,  they 

B 


SCENERY   OF   IRELAND. 


i. 

THE  prominent  association  with  the  name  of  Ireland,  to  one  not  daily  conversant 
with  English  newspapers,  is  that  of  a  prolific  mother  of  orators,  soldiers,  patriots, 
and  poets.  Out  of  sight  of  the  froth  that  is  thrown  up  from  the  active  cauldron  of 
her  political  evils,  and  out  of  hearing  of  the  squabble  and  fret,  the  jibe  and  jeer, 
the  querulous  complaint,  and  the  growling  reply  which  form  the  perpetual  and 
most  marked  under-tone  of  English  news,  the  inhabitant  of  other  countries  looks 
at  the  small  space  Ireland  occupies  on  the  map, — a  little  isle  on  the  westernmost 
extremity  of  Europe — and  counts  her  great  names,  and  reads  her  melancholy,  but 
large  and  brilliant  page  in  history,  with  wonder  and  admiration.  Whatever 
horrors  the  close-seen  features  of  her  abortive  revolutions  may  present,  and  what- 
ever littleness  may  belong  to  the  smaller  machinery  of  her  political  intrigues,  con 
spiracies  and  the  like,  the  distant  eye  reads,  in  the  prominent  lines  of  the  picture, 
an  undying  love  of  liberty,  and  an  untamed  and  restless  energy  of  genius  and  cha- 
racter. To  America  particularly  Ireland  is  sympathetically,  as  well  as  geographi- 
cally, nearer  than  the  other  countries  of  Europe ;  and  receiving  thence,  as  we  do, 
a  long-continued  and  steady  influx  of  population,  we  look  to  the  general  tone  of 
her  national  sentiment,  and  the  preservation  of  her  heroic  character  with  the  in- 
terests of  kindred.  In  a  work  like  this,  however,  of  a  pictorial  character,  and 
intended  for  circulation  among  all  parties,  the  great  questions  at  issue  in  Ireland 
can  only  be  thus  far  adverted  to;  and,  in  recording  my  own  observations  while  tra- 
velling in  the  country,  I  shall  be  excused,  (from  the  evident  necessity  of  omitting 
all  political  and  religious  inference  or  discussion,)  if,  with  the  superficial  material 
that  remains,  I  should  seem  to  avoid  topics  of  momentous  and  evident  interest, 
and  confine  myself  to  those  only  which  are  entertaining  or  trifling. 

I  turned  my  face  westward,  after  the  "  splendid  failure  "  at  Eglinton  Castle,  and 
on  the  first  of  September  followed  the  example  cf  St.  Patrick,  and  embarked  at 
the  narrowest  point  of  the  Channel  for  Ireland.  Port  Patrick  was  named,  they 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 


say,  after  the  saint;  who,  besides  being  subject,  like  the  uncanonized,  to  sea-sick- 
ness, evidently  knew  enough  of  geography  to  decide  what  point  of  Scotland  was 
nearest  to  the  opposite  shore.  It  is  consolatory  to  possess  a  weakness  in  common 
with  great  men;  and  in  taking  a  preventative  glass  of  brandy-and-water,  and  going 
regularly  into  my  berth  for  a  two-hours'  passage,  I  was  pleased  to  remember 
a  fellow-weakness,  not  only  in  St.  Patrick,  but  in  the  "  Queen's  Earl"  of  Des- 
mond, who,  in  writing  to  Queen  Elizabeth  after  his  arrival  in  Ireland,  to  take  pos- 
session of  his  father's  forfeited  titles,  says,  "  I  was  so  sea-sick  as,  whilst  1  live, 
1  shall  never  love  that  element,  and  I  besought  them  to  land  me  anywhere." 

We  ran  into  the  pretty  harbour  of  Donaghadee,  after  a  two-hours'  passage,  and 
I  was  a  little  surprised  to  find  every  thing  very  neat  and  Scotch-looking — the  street 
clean,  the  inn  tidy  and  thrifty,  and  not  a  beggar  to  welcome  us  to  Ireland.  The 
piers  are  of  a  very  white  granite ;  (the  harbour,  I  believe,  was  the  design  of  Sir 
John  Rennie;)  and  with  a  couple  of  towers,  used  as  powder-magazines,  and  crown- 
ing a  very  abrupt  mound,  the  port  has  an  air  both  picturesque  and  nourishing. 

There  were  four  of  us  to  go  on  to  Belfast;  and  the  landlady,  a  very  stout  and 
smiling  person,  came  out  of  doors,  and  separated  our  baggage  from  that  of  the 
mail  passengers,  ordered  a  car  out  for  our  approval,  and  settled  the  quo  modo  of 
our  conveyance  with  a  good-natured  energy  that  amused  me.  As  the  ride  to 
Belfast  was  to  be  my  novitiate  in  car-travelling,  I  looked  at  the  machine,  which  a 
man  drew  out  with  one  hand,  with  some  interest.  An  Irish  car  has  been  often  de- 
scribed, and  most  people  know  that  it  is  the  smallest  possible  quantity  of  wood, 
iron,  and  contrivance  that  will  carry  five  people.  The  driver's  seat  is  generally  a 
tight  fit,  and  the  horse's  tail  and  haunches  answer  for  his  foot-board  ;  but  he  has 
the  advantage  of  riding  face  foremost.  The  passengers  sit  dos-a-dos,  two  on  a 
side,  and  their  legs  are  delivered  over  to  the  care  of  Providence ;  the  small 
shelf,  which  hangs  outside  the  wheel  for  their  support,  offering  no  security  against 
damage  by  collision  with  mile-stones  or  passing  vehicles.  As  the  shafts  are  raised, 
the  car  tilts  backward ;  so  that  you  sit  sideways  upon  a  declivity,  which,  with  the 
excessive  motion  of  the  car,  keeps  the  upper  passenger  continually  sliding  down 
upon  his  neighbour.  A  narrow  trough  between  the  backs  of  the  seats  carries 
a  common-sized  portmanteau  comfortably,  and  with  this  you  have  all  the  capa- 
bilities of  the  Irish  car. 

Our  baggage  followed  us  in  a  sort  of  decapitated  hackney-coach,  which  I  was 
told  was  an  "  inside  car,"  and  we  made  our  exit  from  the  neat  town  of  Donaghadee 
at  a  pace  that,  if  we  could  contrive  to  hold  on  to  our  seats,  promised  to  bring  us 
early  to  Belfast.  I  should  suppose  a  gentleman  sitting  in  a  loose  chair  on  the 
top  of  an  American  stage-coach  would  feel  something  the  security  of  a  passenger 
on  an  "  outride  car"  My  neighbour  nearest  the  horse  chanced  to  be  an  American 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  3 

lady,  as  new  to  "jaunting"  as  myself,  and  never  having  been  instructed  as  to 
whether  the  top  or  the  bottom  of  the  inclined  plane  we  occupied  was  the  place  of 
honour,  I  sat  alternately  above  and  below,  and  left  Ireland,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  with 
this  point  of  etiquette  unresolved.  It  is  a  choice  between  the  roles  of  cushion  and 
fender. 

The  driver  was  very  talkative,  and  assured  us  that  up-hill  or  down-hill  was  all 
one  to  his  horse,  and  he  would  take  us  to  Belfast  without  drawing  breath.  When  he 
did  come  nearly  to  a  stand-still  at  the  foot  of  a  slight  rise  in  the  road,  we  reminded 
Pat  of  his  brag  at  starting.  "  I  think  he  likes  to  walk  just  here  a  bit,  your  honour  ; 
— it's  a  thrick  he's  got  coming  the  road  so  often!" — was  the  answer,  made  with  a 
gravity  that  defied  unbelief.  The  black  mare  in  the  other  car  was  his  chief  topic, 
however,  and  for  her  "  the  mistAress  had  refused  man«y  a  time  a  hunder  guineas." 
To  the  imminent  hazard  of  our  legs,  the  other  driver,  who  seemed  quite  aware  of 
the  subject  of  his  friend's  eloquence,  kept  up  a  continual  show-off,  by  passing 
us  at  a  hard  gallop  and  pulling  up  to  pass  us  again,  and  between  whipping 
and  a  violent  string-halt,  the  black  mare  certainly  proved  a  beast  of  very  high 
action. 

It  was  market-day  at  Belfast,  and  the  streets  were  thronged  with  the  country-peo- 
ple, the  most  inactive  crowd  of  human  beings,  it  struck  me,  that  I  had  ever  seen.  The 
women  were  all  crouching  under  their  grey  cloaks,  or  squatting  upon  the  thills  of 
the  potato-carts,  or  upon  steps  or  curb-stones ;  and  the  men  were  leaning  where 
there  was  any  thing  to  lean  against,  or  dragging  their  feet  heavily  after  them,  in  a 
listless  lounge  along  the  pavement.  It  was  difficult  to  remember  that  this  was  the 
most  energetic  and  mercurial  population  in  the  world  ;  yet  a  second  thought  tells 
one  that  there  is  an  analogy  in  this  to  the  habits  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  animal 
creation — the  lion  and  the  leopard,  when  not  excited,  taking  their  ease  like  the 
Irishman. 

I  had  thought,  among  a  people  so  imaginative  as  the  Irish,  to  have  seen  some 
touch  of  fancy  in  dress — if  ever  so  poor — a  bit  of  ribbon  on  the  women's  caps,  or 
a  jaunty  cock  of  the  "  boy's"  tile,  or  his  jacket  or  coat  worn  shapely  and  with  an 
air.  But  dirty  cloaks,  ribbonless  caps,  uncombed  hair,  and  not  even  a  little  straw 
taken  from  the  cart  and  put  under  them  when  they  sat  on  the  dirty  side-walk,  were 
universal  symptoms  that  left  no  room  for  belief  in  the  existence  of  any  vanity 
whatsoever  in  the  women ;  many  of  them  of  an  age,  too,  when  such  fancies  are 
supposed  to  be  universal  to  the  sex.  The  men  could  scarce  be  less  ornamental  in 
their  exteriors ;  but  the  dirty,  sugar-loaf  hat,  with  a  shapeless  rim,  and  a  twine 
around  it  to  hold  a  pipe ;  the  coat  thrown  over  the  shoulders,  with  the  sleeves 
hanging  behind ;  the  shoes  mended  by  a  wisp  of  straw  stuffed  into  the  holes,  and 
their  faces  and  bare  breasts  nearly  as  dirty  as  their  feet,  were  alike  the  uniform  of 


4  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

old  and  young.  Still  those  who  were  not  bargaining  were  laughing,  and  even  in 
our  flourishin"-  canter  through  the  market,  I  had  time  to  make  up  my  mind  that  if 
they  had  taken  a  farewell  of  vanity,  they  had  not  of  fun. 

Very  nearly  amputating  the  legs  of  a  young  lady  who  sat  on  an  outside  car, 
drawn  up  near  the  side-walk,  Pat,  cantering  to  the  last,  checked  his  horse  at  the 
door  of  the  "  Donegal!  Arms."  It  was  a  handsome  house  in  a  broad  and  hand- 
some street;  but  I  could  not  help  pointing  out  to  my  companion  the  line  of  soiled 
polish  at  the  height  of  a  man's  shoulder,  on  every  wall  and  door-post  within  sight, 
showing,  with  the  plainness  of  a  high-water  mark,  the  average  height,  as  well  as 
the  prevailing  habit  of  the  people.  We  certainly  have  not  yet  found  time  to  acquire 
///(//  polish  in  America,  and  if  we  must  wait  till  the  working  classes  find  time  to 
ten H,  it  will  be  a  century  or  two  at  least  before  we  can  show  as  polished  an  hotel  as 
the  Donegall  Arms  at  Belfast,  or,  (at  that  particular  line  above  the  side-walk,)  as 
polished  a  city  altogether. 

Pat  made  us  a  very  smiling  and  civil  speech  after  he  was  paid,  (not  having 
learned  his  antecedents  from  an  English  grammar,  apparently,)  and,  as  we  had 
breakfasted  in  Scotland  at  daylight,  we  ordered  dinner  in  the  next  breath,  though  it 
was  not  far  into  the  ''small  hours"  of  afternoon.  The  landlord  brought  us  a  most 
tempting  and  voluminous  bill  of  fare,  among  which  were  several  French  dishes, 
unexceptionably  .ipelt.  With  a  vague  impression  that  I  was  about  to  take  leave  of 
luxuries,  at  least  till  my  t  <ur  in  Ireland  was  completed,  and  having  full  purveyor's 
authority  from  my  friends,  I  took  the  carte  at  its  word,  and  wrote  off  a  dinner  to 
which  (on  paper  at  least)  I  might  have  asked  a  Frenchman.  Off  frisked  the 
waiter  with  an  alacrity  that  promised  well.  We  contrived  to  wile  away  an  hour 
with  dressing  and  looking  out  of  the  window;  and,  in  consideration  of  an  elaborate 
dinner,  we  relinquished  the  usual  gratification  of  ringing  the  bell  every  five  minutes 
to  know  if  it  was  ready.  As  the  second  hour  began  rather  heavily,  I  was  taking  a 
turn  toward  the  kitchen-door,  I  cannot  say  entirely  without  some  hope  of  a  fragrant 
intimation  of  the  soup,  when  the  waiter  met  me  in  the  passage. 

"  Is  the  lady  very  hungry,  sir?"  he  asked,  with  the  most  eager  appearance  of  a 
desire  for  information. 

"  Yes,  indeed." 

"Then,  sir,  I  think  you'd  bettAer  have  mutton-chops;  they'll  be  ready  so  much 
quicker." 

The  words  were  not  out  of  his  mouth  before  two  covered  dishes  issued  from  the 
kitchen,  and  made  their  way  to  our  parlour,  paying,  as  they  passed,  a  tribute  to  my 
nostrils,  of  most  unequivocal  mutton-chops  and  potatoes.  I  saw  how  it  was.  They 
had  followed  a  leetle  too  soon  for  my  friend's  diplomacy ;  but  the  French  carte  was 
done  into  Irish,  and  meant  mutton-chops.  The  waiter  would  have  let  us  down 


V 


..<•]   ' 

,'   i  v.  'li  t1.'-  >>!•  '  ;i  •, 
ond  of  the  aftcrno  >n,"  as  ti 
well-dressed  and  well-mant.. 
tibnary"' f  to  the  ulijccts 
cautious  of  .  Irish    d^fitui:". 
our^lves,  ami  Ir-urn  tlMI-  p 


:fr  ol  us,  with  u  poiiint,   -:^i 
,  a  (ink*.     Decliuing  u   ^uut'.' 
•   u      •   (/(..iiite.!   fc,.i!,  itinl  sti-  '     j 
s,  :    ti«-  dtb«r  suburb  of  Jk>'e-t 

coiui'on:.  <••   Kx'kmg';.  bat  they  In  .   »  ^ 

could  ii'.i    .    .  :•  ••^\f-t'.  ^-,-nnnt  !',{        li. 

out  project  .'i- >H'\  -a  the- ro«.t- ci-  cvci 

bouse  bcin^  *-,\ 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 


easier  if  they  had  given  him  time.  I  was  too  much  amused  with  the  entire  absence 
of  any  thing  like  discomfiture  in  his  face  to  make  any  remonstrance,  and  we  dined 
excellently  well  on  chops  and  potatoes. 

Our  dinner,  notwithstanding  its  long  name  on  the  bill  of  fare,  having  been 
despatched  with  the  brevity  of  unornamented  chops  and  potatoes,  we  had  the  "  big 
end  of  the  afternoon,"  as  the  waiter  called  it,  to  dispose  of.  The  landlord  (a  very 
well-dressed  and  well-mannered  person,  by  the  way,)  oifered  us  a  "walking  dic- 
tionary" to  the  objects  of  curiosity  in  the  town;  but  the  dinner  had  made  us 
cautious  of  Irish  definitions,  and  we  preferred  to  find  out  the  curiosities  by 
ourselves,  and  learn  their  names  afterwards. 

One  of  the  first  things  we  stumbled  on,  at  the  end  of  a  street  of  very  tempting 
and  brilliant  shops,  was  an  exhibition  of  pictures.  "ADAM  AND  EVE  WILL 
SHORTLY  CLOSE,"  (so  read  the  placard,)  was  certainly  a  very  inviting  announce- 
ment, and  we  were  in  haste  to  pay  our  money  and  get  in.  The  exhibitor,  to  my  sur- 
prise, called  me  by  name,  as  he  gave  me  my  change,  and  reminded  me  of  having 
visited  his  pictures  at  Boston,  in  the  United  States — a  good  memory  that  would 
have  been  a  more  serviceable  talent  to  a  politician,  but  not  without  its  agreeableness 
anywhere.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  meet  one  who  knows  even  your  name  in  a 
strange  land.  Dubufe  has  painted  "  Adam  and  Eve"  in  the  garden,  and  in  another 
picture,  "  Adam  and  Eve"  being  driven  forth  from  Paradise ;  and  very  clever 
pictures  they  are.  But  it  is  curious  to  observe  how  particularly  clean  they  are 
before  they  sinned,  and  how  very  dingy  after.  I  presume  the  Frenchman  has  good 
authority  for  representing  them  as  dirtied  with  their  "fall,"  but  one  cannot  help 
thinking  what  a  moral  thing  it  would  be  if  sinners  were  known  now-a-days  by  their 
complexions. 

Taking  leave  of  my  friend,  the  exhibitor,  who  was  about  to  "close"  our  first 
parents  in  Belfast,  and  "open"  them  in  Dublin,  we  strolled  down  to  the  quay,  and 
admired  the  Irish  carts  with  solid  wheels  and  a  structure  altogether  very  antique 
and  primitive;  read  the  advertisements,  stuck  on  every  wall,  of  vessels  bound 
to  "New  York;"  (we  took  a  pleasure  somehow  in  reading  them  quite  through;)  and 
having  "  done"  that  end  of  the  town,  returned  towards  the  inn.  The  landlord  was 
in  search  of  us,  with  a  permit,  signed  by  himself  as  a  subscriber,  to  visit  the  bota- 
nical gardens.  Declining  a  guide  again,  we  started  on  our  discoveries  in  the 
direction  he  pointed  out,  and  strolled  through  a  succession  of  clean  and  spacious 
streets,  to  the  other  suburb  of  Belfast.  The  houses  in  this  quarter  were  large  and 
comfortable-looking;  but  they  had  a  kind  of  noseless  and  flattened  aspect,  which  I 
could  not  immediately  account  for.  They  are  built,  it  afterwards  struck  me,  with- 
out projections  either  at  the  roof  or  over  doors  or  windows,  the  front  wall  of  the 
house  being  an  entirely  plane  surface,  from  basement  to  eaves.  I  found  the  same 

c 


g  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

fashion  in  most  of  the  towns  of  Ireland  ;  but  it  impressed  me  more  in  Belfast,  first, 
perhaps,  because  the  nakedness  it  gave  to  the  expression  of  the  houses  accorded  with 
the  lonely  desertion  of  the  streets  in  this  quarter  of  the  town.  I  was  told  in 
Dublin,  that  builders  were  compelled  by  law  to  raise  a  certain  height  of  front  wall 
above  the  edge  of  the  roof,  to  prevent  danger  from  the  sliding  off  of  slates 
and  tiles;  a  law  which  quite  obviates  Tom  Pipes's  objection  to  living  on  shore, 
though  it  is  not  very  productive  of  the  ornamental. 

Just  at  the  edge  of  the  town,  we  were  compelled  to  charge  through  a  phalanx 
of  car-drivers,  whose  obliging  distress  at  seeing  us  on  foot  was  expressed  with  a 
variety  of  eloquence  that  was  worthy  of  a  better  theme.  We  persisted  in  thinking 
that  the  dirt  was  good  enough  "for  the  like  of  us,"  however,  and  walked  them 
off  their  beat,  taking  with  us  a  solemn  assurance  that  the  botanical  garden,  which 
they  knew  to  be  our  destination,  was  "  three  miles  off,  and  Irish  miles  into  the 
bargain" — four  English  miles,  that  is  to  say,  which  we  walked  in  the  incredibly  small 
space  of  five  minutes  !  Not  content  with  this  enterprising  investment  of  eloquence 
and  imagination,  one  of  the  drivers  mounted  his  car,  and  gave  us  what  I  took  to 
be  a  purely  ostentatious  display  of  the  paces  of  his  horse,  driving  backwards  and 
forwards  in  every  description  of  gait  that  could  be  got  up  by  cries,  kicks,  whipping, 
chirupping,  coaxing,  and  other  persuasives.  As  the  man  never  looked  at  us  even 
for  applause  between  his  flourishes,  I  had  no  idea  that  it  was  meant  for  our  eyes 
particularly,  till,  within  forty  yards  of  our  destination,  he  suddenly  drove  up,  and 
with  a  smile  of  the  most  winning  sincerity,  recommended  us  to  take  his  car  to  the 
botanical  garden.  "Where  is  the  botanical  garden?"  I  asked  of  a  little  girl  who 
stood  listening,  without  any  apparent  surprise,  to  Pat's  proposal.  She  pointed  to 
the  gate,  a  few  steps  farther  on.  "  Tltin,  sir,"  said  the  driver,  (as  little  discon- 
certed as  the  waiter  at  the  metamorphosis  of  my  French  dinner,)  perhaps  your 
honour 'd  like  me  to  wait  for  you  going  back!"  My  natural  resentment  at  the 
imposition  was  entirely  absorbed  in  admiration  of  the  boldness,  fertility  of 
invention,  readiness  and  perseverance  displayed  by  this  ragged  character.  What 
would  not  such  qualities  achieve,  (and  they  are  natural  to  the  whole  nation, 
I  believe,;  well  regulated  and  directed  into  the  proper  channels  ?  With  the  same 
outlay  of  thought,  ingenuity,  and  assurance,  as  was  expended  in  this  fruitless 
endeavour  to  procure  a  sixpenny  fare,  what  return  would  an  American  expect? 
Certainly  enough  to  buy  the  car  and  horse,  with  a  long  lease  of  the  driver. 

The  botanical  gardens  are  laid  out  with  great  taste,  and  beautifully  kept.  We 
enjoyed  our  sunset  stroll  through  the  long  alleys  extremely;  and  spite  of  a 
cautionary  placard,  and  the  keeper  standing  under  the  porch  and  looking  on, 
I  plucked  a  hearts-ease,  as  an  expressive  remembrance  of  my  visit.  As  the  keeper 
made  no  objection,  either  by  word  or  look,  I  inferred  that  heart's-ease,  though 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  7 

planted  among  forbidden  flowers,  in  Ireland,  is  at  least  not  grudged  to  the 
stranger. 

We  strolled  leisurely  back  to  the  inn,  luxuriating  in  what  reminded  us  more  of 
our  own  country  than  of  Great  Britain — a  clear  and  beautiful  twilight.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  it  had  rained  without  intermission  for  the  three  months  since  I  landed  in 
England,  and  I  relished  the  sight  of  the  blue  sky.  Fox's  question  to  his  Irish 
friend,  "  Is  that  shower  over  yet?"  seemed  a  better  joke  to  me  before  I  left  Ireland, 
but  certainly  I  found  sunshine  of  the  very  best  quality  at  Belfast. 

A  bare-foot  damsel,  with  very  pink  heels,  was 

"  My  grim  chamberlain, 
Who  lighted  mo  to  bed  ;'' 

and  in  some  fear  of  oversleeping  the  hour  for  the  coach  in  the  morning,  I  reiterated, 
and  "sealed  with  a  silver  token,"  my  request  to  be  waked  at  six.  Fortunately  for 
a  person  who  possesses  Sancho's  "  alacrity  at  sleep,"  the  noise  of  a  coach  rattling- 
over  the  pavement  woke  me  just  in  time  to  save  my  coffee  and  my  place.  I 
returned  to  my  chamber  the  moment  before  mounting  the  coach  for  something  I 
had  forgotten,  and  as  the  clock  was  striking  eiyld,  the.  faithful  damsel  knocked  at 
my  door  and  informed  me  that  it  was  past  six  ! 

If  the  landlord's  cleverness  at  a  free  translation  of  French  did  not  entitle  him  to  the 
character  of  "  scholar,"  his  manners  and  courtesy  certainly  gave  him  claims  to  that 
of  "  gentleman."  He  waited  on  us  to  the  door  with  an  abundance  of  smiles  and  good 
wishes,  and  a  dish  of  cakes,  which  he  insisted  on  the  lady's  taking  (the  cakes,  not 
the  smiles  and  wishes,)  as  provant  for  the  road.  As  we  were  expected  to  dine  with 
a  brother  Boniface  at  Newry,  and  a  sack  of  cakes  might  endanger  the  appetite  of 
an  economical  person  on  the  road,  our  host's  liberality  must  either  be  put  down  as 
an  uncommon  deficiency  of  esprit  de  corps,  or  a  very  great  stretch  of  courtesy 
towards  his  guests.  As  we  profited  by  the  dilemma  with  both  its  horns,  we  may  as 
well  hang  our  belief  on  the  latter. 

We  started  off  on  King  William's  route  to  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  in  a  rain 
that  would  have  damped  the  courage  of  Count  Schomberg  and  his  forty  thousand 
men,  more  particularly  if  they  had  had  my  rheumatism.  I  had  trusted  to  the  sky 
as  I  had  to  the  French  carte  and  the  chambermaid ;  for  a  fairer  promise  of  a  bright 
morrow  was  never  read  in  a  sunset,  and  we  had  taken  outside  places  to  enjoy  the 
scenery  and  the  sunshine.  I  must  record  that  one  of  the  four  gentlemen 
"  insides,"  a  stranger  to  us,  offered  the  lady  of  our  party  his  place — a  politeness 
which,  though  a  matter  of  course  in  America,  is  not  thought  at  all  necessary  in  old 
countries.  The  kindness  was  declined ;  but  it  was  pleasant  to  know  that  there 
are  "  bowels"  in  Irish  "  insides : "  and  this  is  but  one  among  many  points  of 


8  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

resemblance  between  our  two  countries,  which  I  recorded  in  my  travels  in  Ireland. 
I  am  afraid  there  is  a  stage  of  "  high  civilization,"  at  which  several  of  these  little 
eccentric  virtues  are  polished  away,  under  the  names  of  "  humbug"  and  "  officious- 
ness." 

Our  coach  was  well  horsed  for  performance,  and  driven  at  ten  miles  in  the  hour; 
and  when  we  had  once  absorbed  the  water  from  our  cushionless  seats,  and  arranged 
our  umbrellas  so  as  to  give  and  receive  drippings  as  advantageously  as  possible,  we 
be«-an  to  enjoy  the  rapid  motion  and  the  County  Down.  There  was  something 
very  "raceful,  I  thought,  in  the  shape  of  the  hills  and  the  general  outline  of 
the  country ;  though,  to  my  eye,  the  scantiness  of  wood  was  a  great  drawback  to 
its  beauty.  The  hills  were  entirely  denuded,  and  not  a  single  tree  stood  in  the 
fields,  or  anywhere  but  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  gentlemen's  seats,  and  even 
there  the  planting  seemed  to  have  been  but  recent.  I  should  have  said  of  the  same 
landscape  in  America,  that,  within  a  very  few  years,  it  had  been  entirely  burnt 
over,  so  complete  was  the  nakedness,  and  such  mere  "  brush"  were  the  far-between 
plantations  I  speak  of.  The  same  impression  lias  been  made  upon  me  since, 
Inmost  other  parts  of  Ireland;  though,  in  the  southern  counties,  the  very  great 
number  and  extent  of  new  plantations  show  an  awakened  attention  to  the  subject, 
and  promise  soon  to  remedy  the  deficiency. 

But  what  shall  I  say  of  the  human  habitations  in  this  (so  called)  most  thriving 
and  best-conditioned  quarter  of  Ireland  ?  If  I  had  not  seen  every  second  face  at  a 
hovel-door  with  a  smile  on  it,  and  heard  laughing  and  begging  in  the  same  breath 
everywhere,  I  should  think  here  were  human  beings  abandoned  by  their  Maker. 
Many  of  the  dwellings  I  saw  upon  the  road-side  looked  to  me  like  the  abodes  of 
extinguished  hope — forgotten  instincts, — grovelling,  despairing,  nay,  almost  idiotic 
wretchedness.  I  did  not  know  there  were  such  sights  in  the  world.  I  did  not 
know  that  men  and  women,  upright,  and  made  in  God's  image,  could  live  in  styes, 
like  swine,  with  swine, — sitting,  lying  down,  cooking  and  eating  in  such  filth  as  all 
brute  animals,  save  the  one  "  unclean,"  revolt  from  and  avoid.  The  extraordinary 
part  of  it,  too,  is  that  it  seems  almost  altogether  the  result  of  choice.  I  scarce  saw 
one  hovel,  the  mud-floor  of  which  was  not  excavated  several  inches  below  the  ground- 
level  -without ;  and,  as  there  is  no  sill,  or  raised  threshold,  there  is  no  bar,  I  will 
not  say  to  the  water,  but  to  the  liquid  filth  that  oozes  to  its  lower  reservoir  within. 
A  few  miles  from  Drogheda,  I  pointed  out  to  my  companions  a  woman  sitting  in  a 
hovel  at  work,  with  the  muddy  water  up  to  her  ancles,  and  an  enormous  hog 
scratching  himself  against  her  knee.  These  disgusting  animals  were  everywhere 
walking  in  and  out  of  the  hovels  at  pleasure,  jostling  aside  the  half-naked  children, 
or  wallowing  in  the  wash,  outside  or  in — the  best-conditioned  and  most  privileged 
inmates,  indeed,  of  every  habitation.  All  this,  of  course,  is  matter  of  choice,  and 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  9 

so  is  the  offal-heap,  situated  in  almost  every  instatice,  directly  before  the  door,  and 
draining  its  putrid  mass  into  the  hollow,  under  the  peasant's  table.  Yet  mirth  does 
live  in  these  places — people  do  smile  on  you  from  these  squalid  abodes  of  wretched 
ness — the  rose  of  health  does  show  itself  upon  the  cheeks  of  children,  whose 
cradle  is  a  dung-heap,  and  whose  play-fellows  are  hogs  !  And  of  the  beings  who 
live  thus,  courage,  wit,  and  quenchless  love  of  liberty  are  the  undenied  and 
universal  characteristics.  Truly,  that  mysterious  law  of  nature  by  which  corruption 
paints  the  rose  and  feeds  the  fragrant  cup  of  the  lily,  is  not  without  its  similitude  i 
Who  shall  say  what  is  clean,  when  the  back  of  the  most  loathsome  of  reptiles  turns 
out,  on  examination,  more  beautiful  than  the  butterfly  ?  Who  shall  say  what 
extremes  may  not  meet,  when,  amid  the  filth  of  an  Irish  hovel,  spring,  like  flowers 
out  of  ordure,  the  graces  of  a  prince  in  his  palace? 

The  Irish  cabin,  repulsive  as  it  is,  is  not  unsung.  One  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  I  saw  in  Ireland,  sang  for  me,  with  an  expression  and  humour  perfectly 
delightful,  the  following  amusing  description,  of  which  I  begged  a  copy,  regretting 
that  I  could  not  set  down  the  music  as  well.  It  was  admirably  suited  to  the 
words,  which  I  was  told,  clever  as  they  are,  had  never  found  their  way  into  print. 

Oh  weep  for  the  day  -,ve  were  forced  from  our  cot, 
From  our  praties  and  milk  and  our  stirabout  pot ; 
When  Judy  kept  every  thing  piping  and  hot, 

So  snug  with  the  cat  in  the  corner. 

So  snug,  &c. 

The  pigs  and  the  dogs,  and  the  childer,  agrath  ! 

Lay  down  on  the  floor,  so  dacent  in  sthraw, 

While  the  cocks  and  the  hens,  they  were  perch'd  up  ava, 

Just  over  the  cat  in  the  corner. 

Just  over  the  cat,  &c. 

Our  house  was  so  tidily  covered  with  thatch, 

It  looked  like  a  harlequin's  coat,  patch  for  patch  , 

And  the  door  opened  nately  by  rising  the  latch 

With  a  fong  that  hung  down  in  the  corner. 

With  a  fong,  &c. 

A  scythe  was  stuck  here,  and  a  raping-hook  there, 
And  Paddy's  shilelagh,  the  pride  of  the  fair, 
Was  placed  in  the  chimney  to  sason  with  care, 

Just  over  the  cat  in  the  corner. 

Just  over  the  cat,  &c. 

Our  windows  so  clone,  by  an  unlucky  stroke, 
Had  three  of  the  purtiest  panes  in  it  broke : 
We  fastened  up  two  with  the  tail  of  a  cloak, 

And  the  smoke  went  through  one  in  the  corner. 

And  the  smoke,  &c. 


JQ  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

Our  dresser  was  rficked  out  in  tflegant  style, 

The  trenchers  and  noggins  your  heart  would  beguile; 

And  the  goose  she  was  hatching  her  eggs  all  the  while, 

Right  under  them  all  in  the  corner  ! 

Right  under  them  all,  &c. 

Our  haggard,  my  jewel,  was  not  very  great ; 
We'd  a  pure  chi  of  oats  and  a  t/mfle  of  whate : 
We  fastened  up  all  with  a  bit  of  a  gate, 

And  a  car  in  a  gap  in  the  corner. 

And  a  car,  &c. 

Och  !  Paddy's  the  boy,  with  a  stick  in  his  fist, 

With  a  spur  in  his  head,  and  a  bone  in  his  wrist, 

And  a  straw  round  his  hat — you  must  call  a  gold  twist, 

Or  he'll  murdtfter  you  all  in  the  corner! 

Or  he'll  murd<Aer  you  all,  &c. 

To  pass  suddenly  from  the  bleak  highway,  and  a  row  of  Irish  hovels  into  a  gen- 
tleman's desmesne,  following  a  road  which,  perhaps,  for  two  or  three  miles  runs 
through  the  woods  of  a  highly  preserved  park,  planted,  walled,  turfed,  and  laid 
out  witli  the  most  expensive  care  and  taste,  is,  indeed,  the  change  from  the  desert 
to  the  oasis,  and  one  that,  in  its  full  force  of  contrast,  can  be  felt  only  in  Ireland. 
The  surface  of  the  country  is  so  beautifully  varied,  the  rivers  are  so  swift  and 
bright,  and  the  vegetation  is  kept  so  green  by  the  constant  moisture,  that  wherever 
ornament  of  this  kind  is  attempted,  the  spot  becomes  a  paradise  of  natural 
charms.  Ravensdale,  which  we  passed  on  the  road  to  Drogheda,  is  one  of  these. 

As  we  drove  into  Drogheda  we  entered  a  crowd,  which  I  can  only  describe  as 
suggesting  the  idea  of  a  miraculous  advent  of  rags.  It  was  market-day,  and  the 
streets  were  so  thronged  that  you  could  scarce  see  the  pavement,  except  under  the 
feet  of  the  horses  ;  and  the  public  square  was  a  sea  of  tatters.  Here,  and  all 
over  Ireland,  I  could  but  wonder  where  and  how  these  rent  and  frittered  habili- 
ments, had  gone  through  the  preparatory  stages  of  wear  and  tear.  There  were  no 
degrees — nothing  above  rags  to  be  seen  in  coat  or  petticoat,  waistcoat  or  breeches, 
cloak  or  shirt.  Even  the  hats  and  shoes  were  in  rags  ;  not  a  whole  covering,  even 
of  the  coarsest  material,  was  to  be  detected  on  the  thousand  backs  about  us  :  no- 
thing shabby,  nothing  threadbare,  nothing  mended,  except  here  and  there  a  hole  in 
a  beggar's  coat,  stuffed  with  straw.  Who  can  give  me  the  genealogy  of  Irish  rags  ? 
Who  took  the  gloss  from  these  coats,  once  broadcloth?  who  wore  them  ?  who  tore 
them  ?  who  sold  them  to  the  Jews  ?  (for,  by  the  way,  Irish  rags  are  fine  rags,  sel- 
dom frieze  or  fustian.)  How  came  the  tatters  of  the  entire  world,  in  short,  assem- 
bled in  Ireland  ?  for  if,  as  it  would  seem,  they  have  all  descended  from  the  backs 
of  gentlemen,  the  entire  world  must  contribute  to  maintain  the  supply. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  11 

I  had  been  rather  surprised  at  the  scarcity  of  beggars  in  Belfast ;  but  the  beg- 
garry  of  Drogheda  fully  came  up  to  the  traveller's  descriptions.  They  were  of  every 
possible  variety.  At  the  first  turn  the  coach  made  in  the  town,  we  were  very  near 
running  over  a  blind  man,  who  knelt  in  the  liquid  mud  of  the  gutter,  (the  calves  of 
his  legs  quite  covered  by  the  pool,  and  only  his  heels  appearing  above,)  and  held 
up  in  his  hands  the  naked  and  footless  stumps  of  a  boy's  legs.  The  child  sat  in  a 
wooden  box,  with  his  back  against  the  man's  breast,  and  eat  away  very  uncon- 
cernedly at  a  loaf  of  bread,  while  the  blind  exhibitor  turned  his  face  up  to  the  sky, 
and,  waving  the  stumps  slightly  from  side  to  side,  kept  up  a  vociferation  for  charity, 
that  was  heard  above  all  the  turmoil  of  the  market-place.  When  we  stopped  to 
change  horses,  the  entire  population,  as  deep  as  they  could  stand,  at  least  with  any 
chance  of  being  heard,  held  out  their  hands,  and  in  every  conceivable  tone  and 
mode  of  arresting  the  attention,  implored  charity.  The  sight  was  awful :  old  age, 
in  shapes  so  hideous,  I  should  think  the  most  horrible  nightmare  never  had  con- 
ceived. The  rain  poured  down  upon  their  tangled  and  uncovered  heads ;  seam- 
ing, with  its  cleansing  torrents,  faces  so  hollow,  so  degraded  in  expression,  and, 
withal,  so  clotted  with  filth  and  neglect,  that  they  seemed  like  features  of  which 
the  very  owners  had  long  lost,  not  only  care,  but  consciousness  and  remembrance  ; 
as  if  in  the  horrors  of  want  and  idiotcy,  they  had  anticipated  the  corrupting  apathy 
of  the  grave,  and  abandoned  everything  except  the  hunger  which  gnawed  them 
into  memory  of  existence.  The  feeble  blows,  and  palsied  fighting  of  these  hag- 
like  spectres  for  the  pence  thrown  to  them  from  the  coach ;  and  the  howling,  harsh, 
and  unnatural  voices  in  which  they  imprecated  curses  on  each  other  in  the  fury  of 
the  struggle,  have  left  a  remembrance  in  my  mind,  which  deepens  immeasurably 
my  fancied  nadir  of  human  abandonment  and  degradation.  God's  image  so 
blasted,  so  defiled,  so  sunk  below  the  "  beasts  that  perish,"  I  would  not  have  be- 
lieved was  to  be  found  in  the  same  world  with  hope. 

Yet  strangely  enough,  these  desperate  beings,  snarling  and  howling  like  dogs 
upon  each  other,  tried,  upon  those  from  whom  they  begged,  every  shape  of  flattery  ; 
and  often  with  a  wit,  that,  though  it  was  like  wit  from  a  skeleton,  showed  still 
that  the  nearly  extinguished  mind  had  been  quick  and  penetrating ;  and  that 
amid  all  this  apathy  and  despair,  there  was  a  memory  of  the  springs  of  human 
action.  I  thought  I  should  be  able  to  recal  many  quick  witticisms  I  had  heard  at 
Drogheda  and  elsewhere ;  but  it  is  a  kind  of  memory  that  floats  away  in  the  cloud 
of  unimportant  events,  occurring  in  so  busy  a  life  as  travel ;  and  I  remember  but 
one — and  that  more  from  the  hideousness  of  the  speaker,  than  the  excellence  of 
her  wit.  I  thought  I  had  given  away  all  my  pence,  when  this  woman,  quite  the 
weakest  looking  and  sickliest  I  had  observed,  caught  my  eye.  Another  dive  into 
my  pocket  brought  forth  a  sovereign,  a  shilling,  and  a  penny.  "  I  won't  tArouble 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 


you  for  the  gowld,"  said  she  watching  me  as  I  turned  over  the  pieces  in  my  hand  ; 
"  I  don't  like  the  colour  of  it."  I  laid  my  finger  on  the  penny  :  "  Och  !  that's  too 
black  intirely,"  she  cried  again  ;  "  something  batwane  :  now,  there's  a  diliJcit  white 
s-hilliu',  the  colour  o'yer  honor's  hand,  plazes  me  more  !"  I  was  amused  with  their 
efforts,  often  successful,  to  penetrate  and  remove,  by  some  apposite  suggestion,  any 
hesitation  in  the  giver's  generosity.  "  I'll  change  it  for  yer  honour,  and  divide  it 
among  'em,"  said  a  cripple  to  a  young  man  beside  me,  who  had  drawn  sixpence  from  his 
pocket,  and  held  it  doubtfully  in  his  hand.  The  sixpence  was  thrown  into  the  beggar's 
hat,  who  had  well  foreseen  that  the  giver  would  not  have  the  courage  to  falsify  a  cre- 
ditable imputation  before  strangers.  I  am  sorry  to  add,  that  the  "  division"  was 
but  a  hVure  of  speech  ;  and  the  sixpence  was  clutched  with  a  flourish  of  the  crip- 
ple's crutch,  which  promised  to  show  fight  for  the  lion's  share. 

Drogheda  fills  an  important  page  in  history,  and  probably  has  been  the  scene  of 
more  bloodshed  than  any  other  town  in  Ireland.  The  adherents  of  the  Stuarts  occu- 
pied it*  uarrison  after  the  death  of  Charles  I.,  and,  as  the  loyalty  of  the  Irish  was, 
during  the  protectorate,  the  chief  hope  of  the  exiled  heir  to  the  throne,  Cromwell 
saw  the  necessity  of  checking  it  by  a  decided  movement.  "  He  landed  at  Dublin 
on  the  15th  of  August,  1650,  with  8,000  foot  and  4,000  horse  ;  a  great  quantity  of 
ammunition  and  a  splendid  retinue.  He  remained  a  fortnight  to  recruit  his  forces, 
and  then  marched  with  10,000  men  to  Drogheda,  which  was  bravely  defended  by 
Sir  Arthur  Aston  ;  but  at  length  surrendered,  in  consequence  of  a  proclamation 
from  Cromwell,  that  quarter  should  be  shown  to  all  who  would  lay  down  their 
arms.  The  saintly  protector  kept  his  word  for  two  days  ;  at  the  expiration  of  which 
time,  having  disarmed  all  the  garrison,  he  ordered  the  whole  to  be  massacred  in 
cold  blood  ;  and  this  inhuman  butchery  was  so  faithfully  executed  by  the  wretches 
who  obeyed  him,  that  only  thirty  escaped  with  their  lives,  and  those  thirty  were 
transported  to  Barbadoes." 

The  "  Battle  of  the  Boyne"  is  the  chief  historical  feature  of  Drogheda,  how- 
ever, and  the  ground  I  had  travelled  over  since  landing  at  Belfast,  was  the  track  of 
William's  army  on  their  way  to  this  brilliant  victory.  I  was  very  content  not 
to  have  done  it  in  the  king's  time,  as  he  was  six  days  marching  from  Belfast 
to  Drogheda,  a  distance  the  coach  does  in  about  as  many  hours.  He  had  the 
advantage  of  us  in  weather,  however,  for  historians  laud  him  for  encountering  the 
"  dust"  in  reviewing  the  troops  after  his  landing.  It  appears  that  William  had  a 
troublesome  crown  to  wear;  and  previously  to  his  Irish  expedition,  had  contem- 
plated retiring  to  Holland,  and  relinquishing  to  his  queen  a  sovereignty  that  was 
too  vexatious  for  his  impatient  spirit.  He  changed  his  mind,  however,  and  set 
sail  to  join  his  army  under  Count  Schomberg,  in  June  of  1630.  The  scene  of  the 
contest  between  the  two  monarchs,  James  and  William,  at  the  "  Boyne  Water,"  is 


SCENERY    OF   IRELAND.  13 

too  interesting  for  the  traveller  to  pass  without  refreshing  his  memory  with  the 
story.  William  landed  at  Carrickfergus,  attended  by  Prince  George  of  Den- 
mark, the  young  Duke  of  Ormond,  the  Earls  of  Oxford,  Scarborough,  and  Man- 
chester, and  other  persons  of  distinction ;  was  met  by  Duke  Schomberg,  the  Prince 
of  Wirtemberg,  Kirk,  and  other  officers  ;  received  an  address  from  the  northern 
clergy,  presented  by  Walker,  and  published  his  proclamation  for  the  suppressior. 
of  rapine,  violence,  and  injustice.  His  military  genius  prompted  him,  and  the 
present  distracted  state  of  England,  together  with  the  formidable  preparations  of 
France  obliged  him  to  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  From  Belfast  he  ad- 
vanced to  Lisburne  and  Hillsborough.  Here  he  commenced  the  exercise  of  his 
civil  authority,  by  an  act  highly  acceptable  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  pro- 
vince. The  teachers  of  dissenting  congregations,  which  abounded  in  this  province, 
had  acted  with  zeal  against  the  cause  of  popery  and  the  late  king.  One  of  this 
order  had  the  merit  of  first  encouraging  the  populace  to  shut  the  gates  of  Derry. 
Several  had  patiently  endured  the  hardships  of  the  siege ;  and  in  every  part  of 
Ulster  these  ministers  had  shared  deeply  in  the  distresses  of  war.  William  now 
issued  his  warrant,  granting  them  an  annual  pension  of  twelve  hundred  pounds,  to 
be  paid  by  the  collector  of  customs  in  the  port  of  Belfast ;  a  pension  afterwards 
inserted  in  the  civil  list,  and  made  payable  from  the  exchequer.  His  forces  were 
ordered  to  take  the  field ;  and  when  some  cautious  counsels  were  suggested  by  his 
officers,  he  rejected  them  with  indignation.  "  I  came  not  to  Ireland,"  said  he, 
"  to  let  grass  grow  under  my  feet."  At  Loughbrickland,  his  whole  army  assem- 
bled from  their  different  quarters,  and  were  joined  by  the  king  and  his  train.  Wil- 
liam ordered  them  to  change  their  encampment,  that  he  might  review  the  regiments 
on  their  march  to  the  new  ground.  The  officers  imagined,  that  on  a  tempestuous 
and  dusty  day,  he  would  content  himself  with  a  general  view  from  some  conve- 
nient station  ;  but  they  saw  him  dart  quickly  into  the  throne,  riding  eagerly  from 
place  to  place,  examining  every  regiment  distinctly  and  critically.  His  soldiers 
were  thus  pleased  and  animated ;  every  man  considering  himself  as  under  the  im- 
mediate inspection  of  his  royal  leader,  who  took  his  quarters  in  the  camp,  was  the 
whole  day  on  horseback,  at  the  head  of  an  advanced  party,  viewing  the  adjacent 
country ;  reconnoitring,  or  directing  the  accommodations  necessary  for  his  sol- 
diers. When  an  order  was  presented  to  him  to  be  signed  for  wine  for  his  own  table, 
he  passionately  exclaimed,  that  his  men  should  be  first  provided.  "  Let  them  not 
want,"  said  he,  "  I  shall  drink  water."  An  army  of  thirty-six  thousand  men, 
thus  animated,  and  excellently  appointed,  advanced  southward,  to  decide  the  fate  of 
Ireland ;  while  the  fleet  coasted  slowly  in  view,  to  supply  them  with  every  necessary, 
and  thus  to  increase  their  confidence. 

Six  days  had  elapsed  from  the  time  of  William's  landing,  when  James  received 

VOL.  I.  E 


14  SCENERY    OF   IRELAND. 

the  first  intelligence  that  a  prince,  who,  he  confidently  believed  must  be  detained 
in  England  by  faction  and  discontent,  was  already  on  his  march  to  meet  him.  He 
committed  the  guard  of  Dublin  to  a  militia,  under  the  command  of  Lutterel,  the 
governor,  and  marched  with  six  thousand  French  infantry  to  join  the  main  body 
of  his  arwy,  which,  at  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  had  retired  from  Dundalk  and 
Ardee,  and  now  lay  near  Drogheda,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Boyne.  His  num- 
bers were  about  thirty-three  thousand.  His  council  of  officers  reminded  him,  that  the 
nuval  armament  of  France  was  completed,  and  the  fleet,  perhaps,  already  on  the  Eng- 
lish coast ;  that  Louis  had  promised,  as  soon  as  the  squadron  attending  on  Wil- 
liam should  return,  he  would  send  a  fleet  of  frigates  into  the  Irish  seas  to  destroy 
his  transports,  that  he  would  be  thus  fatally  detained  in  Ireland,  while  Britain  was 
threatened  by  foreign  invasion,  and  the  domestic  enemies  of  the  reigning  prince 
concerting  an  insurrection.  In  such  circumstances,  they  advised  him  to  wait  the 
event  of  those  designs  formed  in  his  favour,  not  to  hazard  an  engagement  against 
superior  numbers  ;  to  strengthen  his  garrisons,  to  march  to  the  Shannon  with  his 
cavalry  and  a  small  body  of  foot,  and  thus  to  maintain  a  defensive  war  against  an 
enemy,  which,  in  a  strange  and  unfriendly  climate,  without  provisions  or  succours, 
must  gradually  perish  by  disease  and  famine.  James,  on  the  contrary,  contended 
that  to  abandon  the  capital  were  to  confess  himself  subdued  ;  that  his  reputation 
must  be  irreparably  ruined  :  that  the  Irish,  who  judged  by  appearances,  would  de- 
sert ;  and  what  was  still  of  more  moment,  his  friends  in  England  and  Scotland 
must  be  dispirited,  and  deterred  from  their  attempts  to  restore  him.  He  expressed 
satisfaction,  that  be  had  at  last  the  opportunity  of  one  fair  battle  for  the  crown. 
He  insisted  on  maintaining  his  present  post;  and  from  such  animated  language,  his 
officers  concluded  that  he  meant  to  take  a  desparate  part  in  the  engagement;  yet, 
with  an  ominous  precaution,  he  dispatched  Sir  Patrick  Prout,  one  of  his  commis- 
sioners of  revenue,  to  Waterford,  to  prepare  a  ship  for  conveying  him  to  France  in 
case  of  any  misfortune. 

William  was  no  stranger  to  the  motions  of  the  French,  and  the  machinations  of 
his  enemies.  Whatever  was  the  proper  conduct  for  James,  it  was  evidently  his  in- 
terest to  bring  their  contest  to  an  immediate  decision.  On  the  last  day  of  June,  at 
llie  first  dawn  of  morning,  his  army  moved  towards  the  river  in  three  columns.  He 
inarched  at  the  head  of  his  advanced  guard,  which  by  nine  o'clock  appeared  within 
two  miles  of  Drogheda.  William,  observing  a  hill  west  of  the  town,  rode  to  the 
summit  with  his  principal  officers,  to  take  a  view  of  the  enemy.  On  their  right 
was  Drogheda,  filled  with  Irish  soldiers.  Eastward  of  the  town,  on  the  farther 
banks  of  the  river,  their  camp  extended  in  two  lines,  with  a  morass  on  the  left,  dif- 
ficult to  be  passed.  In  their  front  were  the  fords  of  the  Boyne,  deep  and  danger- 
ous, with  rugged  banks,  defended  by  some  breast-works,  with  huts  and  hedges, 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  15 

convenient  to  be  lined  with  infantry.  On  their  rear,  at  some  distance,  lay  the  church 
and  village  of  Donore ;  three  miles  further  was  the  pass  of  Duleek,  on  which  they 
depended  for  a  retreat.  The  view  of  their  encampment  was  intercepted  by  some 
hills  to  the  south-west;  so  that  Sgravenmore,  one  of  William's  generals,  who  counted 
but  forty-six  regiments,  spoke  with  contempt  of  the  enemy's  numbers.  The  king 
observed,  that  more  might  be  concealed  behind  these  hills,  and  many  be  stationed 
in  the  town ;  "  But  it  is  my  purpose,"  said  he,  "  to  be  speedily  acquainted  with 
their  whole  strength." 

His  army  was  now  marching  into  camp  ;  when  William,  anxious  to  gain  a 
nearer  and  more  distinct  view  of  the  enemy,  advanced,  with  some  officers,  within 
musket-shot  of  a  ford  opposite  to  a  village,  called  Old-bridge :  here  he  conferred 
for  some  time  on  the  methods  of  passing,  and  planting  his  batteries ;  when  riding 
on  still  westward,  he  alighted  and  sat  down  to  refresh  himself  on  a  rising  ground. 
Neither  the  motions  of  William  nor  of  his  army  were  unnoticed.  Berwick,  Tyr- 
connel,  Sarsefield,  and  some  other  generals,  rode  slowly  on  the  opposite  banks, 
viewing  the  army  in  their  march,  and  soon  discovered  the  present  situation  of  the 
king.  A  party  of  about  forty  horse  immediately  appeared  in  a  ploughed  field  op- 
posite to  the  place  on  which  he  sat.  In  their  centre  they  carefully  concealed  two 
field-pieces,  which  they  planted  unnoticed  under  cover  of  a  hedge,  and  retired. 
William  mounted  his  horse;  at  that  moment  the  first  discharge  killed  a  man  and 
two  horses  on  a  line,  (at  some  distance,)  with  the  king ;  another  ball  instantly  suc- 
ceeded, grazed  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  rose,  and  slanted  on  his  right  shoulder, 
tearing  his  coat  and  flesh.  His  attendants  crowded  round  him,  and  appeared  in 
confusion.  An  universal  shout  of  joy  rung  through  the  Irish  camp  at  the  news 
that  Orange  was  no  more.  It  was  conveyed  rapidly  to  Dublin  ;  it  was  wafted  to 
Paris :  Louis  received  it  with  ecstacy ;  and  the  guns  of  the  Bastile  proclaimed 
the  meanness  of  his  triumph. 

While  some  squadrons  of  the  enemy's  horse  drew  down  to  the  river,  as  if  to 
pursue  a  flying  enemy,  William  rode  through  his  camp  to  prevent  all  alarms  or 
false  reports  of  his  danger.  On  the  arrival  of  his  artillery,  the  batteries  were 
mounted,  and  the  cannonading  continued  on  each  side,  not  without  some  execution, 
till  the  close  of  evening.  Some  deserters  were  received,  and  gave  various  accounts 
of  the  strength  and  disposition  of  the  enemy.  One,  who  appeared  of  some  note, 
spoke  so  plausibly,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  magnificently  of  their  numbers,  that 
William  seemed  disconcerted.  To  Sir  Robert  Southwell,  his  secretary  of  state, 
who  had  given  him  different  intelligence,  he  expressed  his  suspicion  that  the  enemy 
was  really  stronger  than  he  imagined.  Southwell  communicated  the  king's  doubts 
to  Cox,  his  under-secretary,  through  whose  channel  the  intelligence  had  been  con- 
veyed. Cox,  with  an  acuteness  which  seems  to  have  laid  the  foundation  of  his 


)(J  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

future  fortune,  led  the  deserter  through  the  English  camp  ;  and  when  he  had  sur- 
veyed it,  asked  to  what  he  computed  the  amount  of  William's  forces.  The  man 
confidently  rated  them  at  more  than  double  their  number.  The  king  was  thus  satis- 
fied that  his  reports  arose  from  ignorance  and  presumption.  Other  deserters  made 
reports  more  unfavourable  to  the  enemy ;  and  the  king  was  assured,  that  James,  in 
expectation  of  a  defeat,  had  already  conveyed  part  of  his  baggage  to  Dublin. 

About  nine  at  night  William  called  a  council  of  war,  not  to  deliberate,  but  to 
receive  his  orders  ;  and  here  he  declared  his  resolution  of  passing  the  river  in  front 
of  the  enemy.  Duke  Schomberg,  with  the  caution  natural  to  his  years,  endea- 
voured to  dissuade  him  from  this  hazardous  enterprise ;  and  when  he  could  not 
prevail,  insisted  that  part  of  the  army  should  be  immediately  detached  to  secure 
the  bridge  of  Slane,  about  three  miles  westward  of  their  camp,  so  as  to  flank  the 
enemy,  and  to  cut  them  off  from  Duleek,  the  pass  through  which  they  might  re- 
treat. It  is  generally  imputed  to  the  indifference  with  which  his  counsel  was  re- 
ceived, that  this  general  retired  in  disgust,  and  received  the  order  of  battle  in  his 
tent,  declaring  that  "  it  was  the  first  ever  sent  to  him."  Nor  did  James  discover 
more  attention  to  this  important  pass  of  Slane.  In  his  council  of  war,  Hamilton 
recommended  that  eight  regiments  might  be  sent  immediately  to  secure  the  bridge. 
James  proposed  to  employ  fifty  dragoons  in  this  service;  the  general,  in  astonish- 
ment, bowed,  and  was  silent. 

William  directed  that  the  river  should  be  passed  in  three  different  places ;  by 
his  right  wing,  commanded  by  Count  Schomberg,  son  of  the  duke,  and  General 
Douglas  on  the  west,  at  some  fords  discovered  near  the  bridge  of  Slane  ;  by  the 
centre,  commanded  by  Duke  Schomberg,  in  front  of  the  Irish  camp ;  and  by  the  left 
wing,  led  by  the  king  himself,  at  a  ford  between  the  army  and  the  town  of  Drog- 
heda.  At  midnight  William  once  more  rode  through  his  camp  with  torches,  in- 
specting every  post,  and  issuing  his  final  orders. 

Early  on  the  succeeding  morning,  Count  Schomberg  with  the  cavalry,  and 
Douglas  with  the  infantry,  which  composed  the  right  wing,  marched  towards  Slane 
with  greater  alacrity  than  the  troops  sent  from  the  other  side  to  oppose  them.  They 
crossed  the  river  without  any  opposition,  except  from  a  regiment  of  dragoons  sta- 
tioned over  night  at  the  ford,  of  which  they  killed  seventy,  before  their  retreat 
could  be  secured.  They  advanced  and  found  their  antagonists  drawn  up  in  two 
lines.  They  formed,  ranging  their  horse  and  foot,  squadron  with  battalion,  till  on 
the  arrival  of  more  infantry  they  changed  their  position,  drawing  the  horse  to  the 
right,  by  which  they  considerably  out-flanked  the  enemy.  But  they  were  to  force 
their  way  through  fields,  enclosed  by  deep  ditches,  difficult  to  be  surmounted,  espe- 
cially by  the  horse ;  who,  in  the  face  of  an  enemy,  were  obliged  to  advance  in 
Order ;  beyond  these  lay  the  morass,  still  more  embarrassing.  The  infantry  were 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  17 

ordered  to  plunge  in,  and  while  the  horse  found  a  firm  passage  to  the  right,  forced 
their  way  with  fatigue  and  difficulty.  The  enemy,  astonished  at  their  intrepidity, 
fled  instantly  towards  Duleek,  and  were  pursued  with  slaughter. 

By  the  time  when  it  was  supposed  that  the  right  wing  had  made  good  their  pas- 
sage, the  infantry  in  the  centre  was  set  in  motion.  The  Dutch  guards  first  entered 
the  river  on  the  right,  opposite  to  Old-bridge.  The  French  Protestants  and  Ennis- 
killeners,  Brandenburghers,  and  English,  at  their  several  passes  to  the  left, 
plunged  in  with  alacrity,  checking  the  current,  and  swelling  the  water,  so  that  it 
rose  in  some  places  to  their  middle,  in  others  to  their  breasts,  and  obliged  the  in- 
fantry to  support  their  arms  above  their  heads.  The  Dutch  had  marched  unmo- 
lested to  the  middle  of  the  river,  when  a  violent  discharge  was  made  from  the 
houses,  breast-works,  and  hedges,  but  without  execution ;  they  moved  on,  gained 
the  opposite  banks,  formed  gradually,  and  drove  the  Irish  from  their  posts.'  As 
they  still  advanced,  the  squadrons  and  battalions  of  the  enemy  suddenly  appeared  in 
view,  behind  the  eminences  which  had  concealed  them.  Five  of  these  battalions  bore 
down  upon  those  Dutch  who  had  already  passed,  but  were  received  firmly,  and  re- 
pulsed. The  efforts  of  the  Irish  horse  were  equally  unsuccessful.  Two  attacks  were 
bravely  repelled,  when  the  French  and  Enniskilleners  arrived  to  the  support  of  the 
Dutch,  and  drove  back  a  third  body  of  horse,  with  considerable  execution. 

In  the  meantime  General  Hamilton  led  the  Irish  infantry  to  the  very  margin  of 
the  river,  to  oppose  the  passage  of  the  French  and  English.  But  his  men,  although 
stationed  in  the  post  of  honour  at  the  requisition  of  their  officers,  shrunk  from  the 
danger.  Their  cavalry  proved  more  spirited.  A  squadron  of  Danes  was  attacked 
with  such  fury  and  success,  that  they  fled  back  through  the  river.  The  Irish  horse 
pursued,  and,  on  their  return,  fell  furiously  on  the  French  Huguenots,  who  had  no 
pikes  to  sustain  their  shock,  and  were  instantly  broken.  Caillemote,  their  brave 
commander,  received  his  mortal  wound,  and  when  borne  to  the  English  camp,  with 
his  last  breath  animated  his  countrymen  who  were  passing  the  river.  As  he  lay 
bleeding  in  the  arms  of  four  soldiers,  he  collected  strength  to  exclaim  repeatedly, 
in  his  own  language,  "  A  la  gloire,  mes  enfans  !  a  la  gloire  !"  "  To  glory,  my 
boys!  to  glory!"  The  rapidity  of  the  Irish  horse,  the  flight  of  the  Danes,  and 
the  disorder  of  the  French,  spread  a  general  alarm ;  and  the  want  of  cavalry  struck 
the  minds  even  of  the  peasants,  who  were  but  spectators  of  the  battle,  so  forcibly, 
that  a  general  cry  of  "  Horse !  horse  ! "  suddenly  raised,  was  mistaken  for  an 
order  to  "  Halt,"  surprised  and  confounded  the  centre,  was  conveyed  to  the  right 
wing,  and,  for  a  while,  retarded  their  pursuit.  In  this  moment  of  disorder,  Duke 
Schomberg,  who  had  waited  to  support  his  friends  on  any  dangerous  emergency, 
rushed  through  the  river,  and  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Huguenot  forces, 

VOL.  I.  p 


Jg  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

who  were  now  deprived  of  their  leader,  pointed  to  some  French  regiments  in  their 
front,  and  cried,  "  Allons,  messieurs  ;  voila  vos  persecuteurs."  "  Come  on,  gentle- 
men, these  are  your  persecutors."  These  were  his  last  words.  The  Irish  horse, 
who  had  broken  the  French  Protestants,  wheeled  through  Old-bridge,  in  order  to 
join  their  main  body,  but  were  here  cut  down  by  the  Dutch  and  Enniskilleners. 
About  sixteen  of  their  squadron  escaped,  and  returning  furiously  from  the  slaugh- 
ter of  their  companions,  were  mistaken  by  the  Huguenots  for  some  of  their  own 
friends,  and  suffered  to  pass.  They  wounded  Schomberg  in  the  head,  and  were 
hurrying  him  forward,  when  his  own  men  fired  and  slew  him.  About  the  same 
time,  Walker,  of  Londonderry,  whose  passion  for  military  glory  had  hurried  him  unne- 
cessarily into  this  engagement,  received  a  wound  in  his  belly,  and  instantly  expired. 

After  an  uninterrupted  firing  of  an  hour,  the  disorder  on  both  sides  occasioned 
some  respite.  The  centre  of  the  English  army  began  to  recover  from  their  confu- 
sion. The  Irish  retreated  towards  Donore,  where  James  stood  during  the  engage- 
ment, surrounded  by  his  guards ;  and  here,  drawing  up  in  good  order,  once  more 
advanced.  William  had  now  crossed  the  river  at  the  head  of  Dutch,  Danish,  and 
English  cavalry,  through  a  dangerous  and  difficult  pass,  where  his  horse  flounder- 
ing in  the  mud,  obliged  him  to  dismount,  and  accept  the  assistance  of  his  attend- 
ants. And  now,  when  the  enemy  had  advanced  almost  within  musket-shot  of  his 
infantry,  he  was  seen  with  his  sword  drawn,  animating  his  squadrons,  and  preparing 
to  fall  on  their  flank.  They  halted,  and  again  retreated  to  Donore.  But  here,  fac- 
ing about  vigorously,  they  charged  with  such  success,  that  the  English  cavalry, 
though  led  on  by  their  king,  were  forced  from  their  ground.  William,  with  a 
collection  of  thought  which  accompanies  true  courage,  rode  up  to  the  Enniskil- 
leners, and  asked,  "  What  they  would  do  for  him?"  Their  officer  informed  them 
who  he  was :  they  advanced  with  him,  and  received  the  enemy's  fire.  But,  as  he 
wheeled  to  the  left,  they  followed  by  mistake ;  yet,  while  William  led  up  some 
Dutch  troops,  they  perceived  their  error,  and  returned  bravely  to  the  charge.  The 
battle  was  now  maintained  on  each  side  with  equal  ardour,  and  with  variety  of  for- 
tune. The  king,  who  mingled  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  engagement,  was  con- 
stantly exposed  to  danger.  One  of  his  own  troopers  mistaking  him  for  an  enemy, 
presented  a  pistol  to  his  head  ;  William  calmly  put  it  by.  "  What !"  said  he,  "  do 
you  not  know  your  friends?"  The  presence  of  such  a  prince  gave  double  vigour 
to  his  soldiers.  The  Irish  infantry  were  finally  repulsed.  Hamilton  made  one  des- 
perate effort  to  turn  the  fortune  of  the  day,  at  the  head  of  his  horse.  Their  shock 
was  furious,  but  neither  orderly  nor  steady.  They  were  routed,  and  their  general 
conveyed  a  prisoner  to  William.  The  king  asked  him,  whether  the  Irish  would 
fight  more.  "  Upon  my  honour,"  said  Hamilton,  "  I  believe  they  will ;  for  they 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  19 

have  yet  a  good  body  of  horse."  William  surveyed  the  man  who  had  betrayed 
him  in  his  transactions  with  Tyrconnel,  and  in  a  sullen  and  contemptuous  tone  ex- 
claimed, "  Honour  !  YOUR  honour  ! " 

Nor  was  this  asseveration  of  Hamilton  well-grounded.  The  right  wing  of  Wil- 
liam's army  had  by  this  time  forced  their  way  through  difficult  grounds,  and  pur- 
sued the  enemy  close  to  Dunleek.  Langan  rode  up  to  James,  who  still  continued 
at  Donore,  advising  him  to  retreat  immediately,  as  he  was  in  danger  of  being  sur- 
rounded. He  marched  to  Dunleek  at  the  head  of  Sarsefield's  regiment;  his  army 
followed,  and  poured  through  the  pass,  not  without  some  annoyance  from  a  party 
of  English  dragoons,  which  they  might  easily  have  cut  to  pieces,  had  they  not 
been  solely  intent  on  flying.  When  they  reached  the  open  ground,  they  drew  up 
and  cannonaded  their  pursuers.  Their  officers  ordered  all  things  for  a  retreat,  which 
they  made  in  such  order,  as  was  commended  by  their  enemies.  Their  loss  in  this 
engagement  was  computed  at  fifteen  hundred  ;  that  of  William's  army  scarcely 
amounted  to  one-third  of  this  number. 

Here  was  the  final  period  of  James's  Irish  loyalty.  He  arrived  at  Dublin  in 
great  disorder,  and  damped  the  joy  of  his  friends,  who,  at  the  intelligence  of  Wil- 
liam's death,  every  moment  expected  to  receive  him  in  triumph.  He  assembled  the 
popish  magistrates  and  council  of  the  city ;  he  told  them  that  in  England  his  army 
had  deserted  him;  in  Ireland  they  had  fled  in  the  hour  of  danger,  nor  could  be 
persuaded  to  rally,  though  their  loss  was  inconsiderable ;  both  he  and  they  must 
therefore  shift  for  themselves.  It  had  been  deliberated,  whether,  in  case  of  such  a 
misfortune,  Dublin  should  not  be  set  on  fire ;  but  on  their  allegiance  he  charged 
them  to  commit  no  such  barbarous  outrage,  which  must  reflect  dishonour  on  him, 
and  irritate  the  conqueror.  He  was  obliged,  he  said,  .to  yield  to  force,  but  would 
never  cease  to  labour  for  their  deliverance  ;  too  much  blood  had  been  already  shed  ; 
and  Providence  seemed  to  declare  against  him  ;  he  therefore  advised  them  to  set 
their  prisoners  at  liberty,  and  submit  to  the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  was  merciful. 
The  reflection  on  the  courage  of  his  Irish  troops  was  ungracious,  and  provoked 
their  officers  to  retort  it  on  the  king.  They  contended,  that  in  the  whole  of  the 
engagement  their  men,  though  not  animated  by  a  princely  leader,  had  taken  no  in- 
glorious part.  They  observed,  that  while  William  shared  the  danger  of  his  army, 
encouraging  them  by  his  presence,  by  his  voice,  by  his  example,  James  stood  at  a 
secure  distance,  a  quiet  spectator  of  the  contest  for  his  crown  and  dignity.  "  Ex- 
change kings,"  said  they,  "  and  we  will  once  more  fight  the  battle."  Their  indig- 
nation was  increased,  when  they  saw  the  prince,  who  inveighed  against  Irish  cow- 
ardice, fly  precipitately  to  Waterford,  breaking  down  the  bridges  to  prevent  a  pur- 
suit, and  instantly  embark  for  France.  They,  who  did  not  impute  this  conduct  to 
a  defect  of  spirit,  at  least,  complained,  that  his  Irish  adherents  were  shamefully 


20  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

sacrificed  to  his  interests  and  designs  in  England.  Nor  did  the  officers  of  Wil- 
liam express  entire  satisfaction  at  his  conduct.  They  complained,  that  the  enemy 
were  not  pursued  with  sufficient  vigour,  without  weighing  the  disadvantage  sus- 
tained by  the  loss  of  Duke  Schomberg,  or  the  danger  of  pursuit  through  a  difficult 
pass,  and  an  unknown  country.  They  contended,  that  at  the  very  moment  of  vic- 
tory, ten  thousand  men  should  have  been  detached  to  Athlone  and  Limerick,  to  seize 
these  important  places,  and  prevent  the  Irish  from  re-assembling.  But  they  were 
strangers  to  those  anxieties  which  oppressed  the  king's  mind.  He  every  moment 
looked  for  an  invasion  in  England,  and  expecting  to  be  recalled,  deemed  it  impru- 
dent to  divide  his  army,  or  to  remove  to  any  distance  from  the  coast.  Drogheda 
was  summoned ;  the  Irish  governor  hesitated  ;  but  being  assured,  that  if  the  can- 
non were  brought  up  no  quarter  was  to  be  expected,  he  surrendered  on  condition 
that  the  garrison  should  be  conveyed,  unarmed,  to  Athlone  ;  and  William  now  ad- 
vanced slowly  towards  the  capital. 


II. 

WHILE  the  reader  has  been  refreshing  his  memory  with  this  warm  page  of  history, 
we  have  been  refreshing  ourselves  with  a  warm  dinner  at  Drogheda — a  better  din- 
ner, it  may  as  well  be  recorded,  than  one  usually  gets  at  English  inns,  and  twice 
the  time  to  eat  it.  I  smiled  while  at  table,  at  another  instance  of  the  national 
talent  for  persuasion,  and  reminded  my  companions  that  no  service  had  been  ren- 
dered us  since  our  landing  in  the  country,  unaccompanied  with  a  bit  of  advice,  or  an 
attempt  in  some  way  to  change  our  mode  of  arriving  at  the  object  in  question.  The 
waiter  at  Belfast  had  interfered  with  my  selection  of  a  mutton-chop  from  the  dish, 
and  had  run  after  us  from  the  hotel  to  change  the  direction  of  our  walk ;  and  I 
have  already  given,  (a  little  out  of  place,  for  they  occurred  after  dinner,)  instances 
of  the  suggestive  and  persuasive  talent  of  Irish  beggars.  "  No,  sir,"  said  the 
waiter  at  Drogheda,  when  I  asked  for  a  bit  of  a  very  promising  beefsteak,  "  take 
the  fish,  sir,  and  be  that  time  there'll  be  a  hot  one  !  "  I  followed  his  advice,  and 
after  doing  excellent  trencher-service  on  the  second  steak,  asked  for  a  glass  of 
brand y-and-water.  "  The  whiskey's  bettAer,  sir,"  was  the  reply,  and  it  was  poured 
out  before  I  had  time  to  give  an  opinion  upon  it.  So  whiskey  was  my  fate,  though 
taste  and  rheumatism  (the  latter  by  advice)  were  both  of  contrary  mind.  You 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  21 

might  pass  a  life  in.  English  inns  without  finding  a  waiter  with  an  opinion,  and  two 
lives  without  getting  advice,  or,  indeed,  anything  else  not  charged  in  the  bill. 

We  left  the  rain  behind  us  at  Drogheda,  and  got  a  fair  view  of  the  country, 
till  the  night  closed  in  about  us,  a  few  miles  from  Dublin.  The  cultivation  improved, 
and  the  seats  of  the  gentry  occurred  oftener  as  we  approached  the  capital,  though 
still  there  was  the  same  dearth  of  human  beings  which  I  had  remarked  all  the 
way — scarce  a  soul  to  be  seen  out  of  the  streets  of  the  towns  for  the  entire  dis- 
tance. I  think  two  groups  of  men  and  women,  digging  and  weighing  potatoes  in 
the  field,  (in  both  cases,  the  men  weighing  and  the  women  digging,)  were  all  the 
people  I  observed  off  the  road  in  a  hundred  miles'  travel.  I  remarked  the  same 
indolence  of  attitude  everywhere  that  had  struck  me  in  Belfast — the  hands  uni- 
formly thrust  into  the  pockets  or  breast,  and  the  shoulder  against  the  wall  or  the 
post ;  the  pocket,  if  by  chance  the  hand  were  out,  gaping  with  a  most  expressive 
fixedness,  and  the  hand  dropping  into  it,  when  the  action  was  achieved,  with  the 
ease  of  a  foot  into  a  slipper.  If  this  national  love  of  ease  does  not  extend  to  Irish 
horses  it  is  not  for  want  of  temptation.  I  saw  several  standing  up  to  their  bellies 
in  the  bogs,  grazing,  in  great  apparent  comfort,  from  the  sward  just  at  their  breasts, 
without  drawing  up  a  leg  oftener  than  once  in  fifteen  minutes.  Grazing  in  a  bog 
must  be  very  delicate  work,  however,  and  from  several  leaps  over  mud-fences  and  stone- 
walls, which  I  observed  during  the  day,  by  very  indifferent  looking  steeds,  I  should 
think  the  Irish  horse  an  animal  of  rather  uncommon  judgment  and  tractableness. 

Who  ever  entered  a  great  city  without  paying  tribute  in  his  heart  to  the  truth  of 
that  part  of  natural  history,  which  asserts,  that  "  man  is  a  gregarious  animal  ?  "* 
What  delight,  after  long  travel  through  the  lonely  fields  and  over  the  bleak  hills  of 
the  country,  to  be  driven  suddenly  into  the  streets  of  a  crowded  metropolis,  to  see 
the  gay  shops,  the  whirling  past  of  splendid  equipages,  the  press  of  vehicles,  the 
thronging  of  gay  and  busy  multitudes,  and  to  hear  once  more,  with  unaccustomed 
ears,  the  stir  and  murmur  of  these  seas  of  human  life  !  What  heart's  blood  does 
not  quicken  with  sympathy  at  the  spectacle  ?  What  heart's  grief  is  not  unseated 
or  charmed  to  sleep  by  the  grand  monotone  of  human  stir  and  utterance  ?  The 
entrance  to  any  great  city,  for  the  first  time,  more  especially,  is  to  me  a  thing 
looked  forward  to  and  looked  back  upon  as  an  era.  I  am  free  to  confess  that  I 
have  numbered  the  Capitals  of  the  world,  and  those  I  have  not  seen  are  as  unopened 


*  I  remember  to  have  met  but  one  person  who  excepted  himself  from  this  attribute  of  the 
human  family.  Dining  one  day  with  Mr.  Charles  Kemble,  the  eccentric  author  of  "  The  Ad- 
ventures of  a  Younger  Son,"  chanced  to  be  of  the  party.  He  had  just  returned  from  America, 
and  a  gentleman  at  the  table  broke  the  silence  of  the  soup,  by  enquiring  of  him,  in  what 
packet  he  had  sailed.  "  I'm  not  gregarious,  sir,"  was  the  singular  reply  : — "  I  took  the  cabiu 
of  a  merchantman  to  myselfi" 

VOL.  I.  O 


22  SCENEKY    OF    IRELAND. 

chambers  in  my  soul— cardinal  sensations  unfelt— great  pleasures  still  possible 
while  life  exists,  and  so  to  be  hoped  and  struggled  for.  Oh  !  to  see  Rome  again 
with  new  eyes— Athens— Constantinople  !  There  is  a  flood  in  the  feeling  with  which 
such  events  come  to  pass,  which  carries  the  soul  off  its  feet.  We  forget  everything, 
in  the  magnitude  of  the  novelty— even,  (as  the  story  has  it,)  "  the  skeleton  under 
our  cloaks."  But  I  am  getting  into  an  essay. 

At  another  time,  I  made  a  visit,  of  more  leisure,  to  Dublin,  and  I  shall  defer  all 
description  of  it  till  I  come  to  that  portion  of  my  journal.  Retracing,  subse- 
quently, my  route  from  Belfast  to  Dublin,  I  followed  the  artist  of  this  work  to 
MALAHIDE  ;  whose  village  and  castle  are  much  visited,  from  their  vicinity  to  the  ca- 
pital. Malahide  stands  in  a  very  secluded  spot,  upon  a  creek  of  the  Irish  sea,  scarce 
twelve  miles  from  Dublin,  and  promised  at  one  time,  from  the  commodiousness  of 
its  bay,  to  become  the  principal  sea-port  of  Ireland.  The  inlet,  on  whose  margin 
it  is  placed,  possesses  sufficient  depth  to  admit  vessels  of  considerable  tonnage,  and 
the  islands  of  Lambay  and  Ireland's  Eye,  check  the  violence  of  the  storm,  and 
break  the  fury  of  a  raging  sea,  thereby  affording  a  safe  asylum  in  waters  at  all 
periods  but  little  agitated.  "  These  advantages,"  says  Wright,  "  were  fully  appre- 
ciated by  our  ancestors,  and  the  preference  given  to  the  little  cove  of  Malahide 
excited  the  keen  envy  of  the  corporation  of  Dublin,  who  caused  a  fine  to  be  im- 
posed upon  Sir  Peter  Talbot,  of  Malahide  Castle,  for  suffering  vessels  to  break 
bulk  at  this  port,  contrary  to  the  king's  grants  made  to  the  city  of  Dublin.  No 
commercial  advantage  is  now  derived  from  the  security  of  the  harbour,  nor  any 
benefit  from  its  marine  position,  except  that  it  has  encouraged  the  settlement  of  a 
little  colony  of  hardy  sailors,  engaged  in  the  perilous  life  of  deep-sea  fishing;  and 
others  who  follow  the  more  secure,  but  less  profitable  employment,  of  oyster- 
dredging.  For  all  their  produce  they  find  a  convenient  market,  and  an  expeditious 
sale  in  Dublin. 

The  lordship  of  Malahide  was  granted  by  Henry  II.  to  an  ancestor  of  the  pre- 
sent proprietor,  the  eldest  representative  of  Sir  Geoffrey  Talbot,  who  held  Hereford 
Castle  against  King  Stephen  for  the  Empress  Maud..  He  was  contemporary  with 
Sir  Armoricus,  of  Howth,  and  other  bold  adventurers,  who  sought  acquisitions  by  the 
sword,  at  a  time  when  disorganisation  amongst  the  inhabitants  appears  to  have  left 
their  country  an  easy  prey.  Of  all  the  successful  chieftains,  whose  grants  were 
confirmed,  and  enjoyed  by  their  descendants,  the  Talbots  and  St.  Lawrences  alone 
continue  in  possession.  Attainder  dispossessed  some,  improvidence  impover- 
ished others.  The  piety  of  the  first  Talbot,  who  settled  here,  induced  him  to  grant 
away  a  portion  of  his  estate,  called  Mallagh-hide-beg,  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Mary's, 
in  Dublin.  It  may  be  mentioned,  in  continuation  of  the  family  history,  that 
Thomas  Talbot  was  summoned  to  parliament  in  1372,  by  the  style  and  title  of 


I 
I 


9 
g 

s    ^ 

^     t, 

'#    •* 

i  d 


or 


:tlV     OP    1KBIYN,'. 


Talbot  de  Mallagh-hidp,  iui<] 
IV.,  in  a  '  ;  U'.-u  to  M'<;  ditferent  mu 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  23 

Lord  Talbot  de  Mallagh-hide,  and  that  in  the  year  1475,  by  a  grant  of  Edward 
IV.,  in  addition  to  the  different  manorial  rights,  and  privileges  of  holding  courts 
leet  and  baron  within  his  lordship,  the  Lord  of  Malahide  was  created  high  admiral 
of  the  seas,  with  power  to  hear  and  determine  upon  all  offences  committed  upon 
the  high-seas  or  elsewhere,  by  the  tenants,  vassals,  or  residents  of  the  manor  of 
Malahide. 

In  the  dark  records  of  1641,  Thomas  Talbot  is  written  down  an  outlaw,  for  hav- 
ing been  a  participator  in  the  Irish  rebellion ;  and,  in  1653,  a  lease  was  granted  of 
the  hall  of  his  forefathers,  together  with  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  for  a  period  of 
seven  years,  to  Myles  Corbet,  the  regicide,  who  sustained  the  weight  of  his  guilt 
within  its  walls  for  several  years.  The  exterior  of  the  castle  is  venerable,  and  the 
principal  front  displays  much  grandeur.  The  date  of  its  foundation  is  probably 
coeval  with  that  of  the  acquisition  of  the  manor ;  but  uniformity  is  preserved  in 
the  front  alone,  which  this  brief  description  professes  to  illustrate.  There  a  centre 
of  strong  masonry,  and  jealousy  pierced  with  windows,  is  flanked  by  two  lofty, 
handsome  round  towers,  finished  with  a  graduated  parapet.  The  entrance  is  through 
a  low  pointed  doorway,  in  the  northern  front,  giving  access,  by  a  spiral  staircase, 
to  the  oak-parlour.  This  ancient  apartment  is  the  most  interesting  in  this  spacious 
and  comfortable  residence ;  it  is  wainscotted  with  dark  oak,  highly  polished,  and 
divided  into  small  compartments,  ornamented  with  rich  carvings  of  figures,  in 
small  life,  chiefly  scriptural  subjects. 

During  the  desecration  of  this  venerable  apartment,  by  the  presence  of  a  regicide, 
we  are  told  the  little  effigy  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  occupied  the  panel  imme- 
diately above  the  chimney-piece,  miraculously  disappeared,  and  in  a  manner  equally 
unaccountable,  returned  to  its  position  upon  Corbet's  flight  from  Malahide.  A  win- 
dow, whose  light  is  derived  through  the  medium  of  the  stained  glass  that  adorns  it, 
augments  the  gloomy  effects  produced  by  the  solemn  character  of  the  architectural 
decorations,  and  reminds  the  spectator  of  the  proud  spirits  of  these  halls,  that  have 
passed  away  from  their  earthly  grandeur.  Other  ages  find  here  their  illustration 
in  coats-of-mail,  vizors,  gauntlets,  and  greaves  of  ponderous  cast,  exhibited  to  the 
curious.  The  other  state-apartments  are  spacious,  yet  comfortable,  but  have  lost 
much  of  their  interest,  by  being  deprived  of  all  their  original  furniture  and  decora- 
tions. 

The  paintings,  which  adorn  the  different  apartments,  are  of  the  highest  merit ; 
and  the  manner  of  their  acquisition  confers  upon  them  a  deep  degree  of  interest. 
The  portraits  of  Charles  I.  and  his  queen,  are  by  Vandyke;  of  James  II.  and  his 
queen,  by  Sir  P.  Lely  ;  a  fascinating  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth,  toge- 
ther with  one  of  her  son,  the  first  Duke  of  Richmond,  were  the  gifts  of  that  cele- 
brated lady  to  Mrs.  Wogan,  from  whom  they  have  passed,  as  heir-looms,  to  the 


24 


SCENERY    OF   IRELAND. 


present  owner.  There  is  also  a  half-length  of  King  James's  faithful  adherent, 
Talbot,  Duke  of  Tyrconnel,  and  portraits  of  his  daughters ;  all  by  Sir  P.  Lely. 
But  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  this  collection  is  an  exquisite  painting  by  Albert  Durer, 
intended  for  an  altar-piece,  and  representing  the  Nativity,  Adoration,  and  Circum- 
cision, divided,  as  was  his  manner,  into  compartments.  Many  other  works  of  con- 
spicuous merit  are  here  omitted,  not  from  inclination,  but  necessity. 

Adjoining  the  castle,  and  embowered  in  a  thick  grove  of  chestnuts,  that,  in  their 
leafy  honours,  cast  a  melancholy  gloom  upon  the  picture,  are  the  roofless  ruins  of 
a  venerable  church,  silent,  sad,  and  solitary;  its  solitude,  more  striking  from 
the  appearance  of  a  low  and  lonely  tomb,  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  temple, 
bearing  on  its  surface  the  effigy  of  a  female,  habited  in  the  costume  of  two  cen- 
turies ago.  She  was  the  daughter  of  a  Baron  Plunkett,  of  Killeen,  and  in  early 
life  had  been  betrothed  to  the  young  Lord  of  Galtrim.  Upon  the  day  of  cele- 
bratin"-  the  nuptials,  and  at  the  delivery  of  the  last  words  of  the  solemn  contract, 
the  bridegroom  was  called  away  from  the  altar-steps  to  head  his  followers,  and 
scatter  a  gathering  of  the  Irish.  Oh,  vanity  of  earthly  hopes !  in  a  few  short  hours 
he  was  borne  homewards  to  his  widowed  bride, 

"  Stretch'd  on  his  shield,  like  the  steel-girt  slain 
By  moonlight  seen  on  the  battle  plain." 

This  sepulchre  the  curious  now  often  visit  to  contemplate  the  resting-place  of  one 
who  had  thus  the  unusual  fortune  "  to  be  maid,  wife,  and  widow  in  a  single  day." 
Her  fortune  afterwards  proved  less  wayward,  for  she  lived  to  marry,  as  her  third 
husband,  Sir  Richard  Talbot,  of  Malahide. 

The  scenery  around  the  castle  is  of  a  tame  and  sombre  kind.  The  ancient  moat 
is  filled  up,  and  transformed  into  a  sloping  bank,  decorated  with  shrubs;  stately 
timber  everywhere  decorates  the  park,  and  the  sea-view,  which  the  castle  com- 
mands, is  terminated  and  adorned  by  the  picturesque  island  of  Lambay.  This  islet 
rises,  with  much  boldness,  from  the  water,  is  situated  about  three  miles  from  the 
coast,  and  occupies  an  area  of  thirteen  hundred  and  seventy-one  acres.  The  ruins 
of  an  old  fortress  upon  it  have  been  repaired,  and  converted  into  a  sporting-lodge 
by  the  proprietor ;  rabbits  and  sea-fowl  being  there  very  abundant. 

The  next  object  of  interest  visited  by  the  artist,  on  the  east  coast  north  of  Dub- 
lin, is  the  "  Montpelier  of  Ireland,"*  ROSS-TREVOR.  This  popular  and  lovely 
watering-place  is  situated  on  an  acclivity,  ascending  gracefully  from  the  margin  of 
a  land-locked  bay,  and  backed  by  precipitous  and  lofty  mountains ;  villas,  noble 
mansions,  rustic  cottages,  and  every  variety  of  rural  dwelling,  decorate  the  lovely 

*  Wright's  Scenes  in  Ireland. 


(.tie  temple, 


jl«  day." 

•...•:•  th.rd 


;  statclv 


!(••<  from  the 
!  .'io 

ol 


S.N          10 

G 

>   - 


of 


[  noticed  here  nurti 


avour.         or-;.  .•-,;!    r.  ' ;  •!.-• 
'-•\'i  ^nilion  if  l!'j  ;^  c.  t;  i   •  " 
the  murderers  of'  t!.^  Itniiatt'n 
:infl   '-..i^ea  of  Uie  iov/i'st  «.*f 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  25 

scene — a  happy  combination  of  mountain,  of  low-land,  of  wood  and  water.  The 
rank  of  the  inhabitants  contributes  to  the  neat  and  comfortable  appearance  of  the 
place ;  and  the  public  decorations  are  in  character  with  the  greatness  and  sublimity 
of  the  surrounding  landscape.  A  handsome  church  and  steeple  are  well  placed  at 
the  upper  extremity  of  the  market-place,  strongly  relieved  on  the  dark  front  of  the 
mountain  behind. 

I  noticed  here  particularly,  what  I  had  frequently  remarked,  the  readiness  of  the 
Irish  smile,  even  on  faces  furrowed  and  pale  with  misery.  A  smile  is  seldom  ex- 
changed in  England  between  the  rich  and  poor ;  but  in  Ireland  you  cannot  begin  to 
relax  your  countenance  before  the  beggar  in  the  road,  without  an  instant  sympa- 
thy in  the  features  of  the  wretched  being  imploring  your  pity.  I  found  my  obser- 
vation of  these  good-humoured  traits  of  the  people  unsettling,  spite  of  previous 
conviction,  the  opinions  I  had  formed  of  the  blood-thirstiness  and  cruelty  of  the 
Irish  character.  It  is  impossible  to  believe  even  the  evidence  of  history  against  Si 
light-hearted  and  smiling  a  people.  In  looking  since  into  many  books  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Irish  disturbances,  rebellions,  &c.  I  was  gratified  to  find  an  apology  for 
the  bloody  hue  of  the  country's  history,  which,  in  some  degree,  justified  my  im- 
pression. Mr.  G.  C.  Lewis,  in  his  clever  work,  says,  "  Many  people  have  won- 
dered at  the  singular  and  apparently  wanton  cruelty  which  characterises  the  Irish 
crimes  ;  the  killing  of  children,  the  cutting  out  of  tongues,  the  mutilations  of  ears 
and  noses,  the  cardings  and  severe  beatings,  or  the  shocking  maiming  of  animals  ; 
all  these  betoken  a  mind  thoroughly  reckless  about  the  infliction  of  pain. 

"  It  is  unfortunately  far  easier  to  account  for  this  disposition  of  thp  Irish  pea- 
santry than  to  remove  it.  Their  indifference  to  the  sufferings  of  which  they  are  the 
cause,  arises  from  the  consciousness  that  their  conduct  will  be  approved  by  their 
own  class ;  that  public  opinion,  so  far  as  they  come  in  contact  with  it,  is  in  their 
favour.  A  man  who  murders  for  his  own  gain,  must  make  up  his  mind  to  general 
execration  if  he  is  detected.  He  must  be  prepared,  (like  Bishop  and  Williams, 
the  murderers  of  the  Italian  boy,)  to  die  on  the  scaffold,  in  the  midst  of  the  yells 
and  curses  of  the  lowest  of  the  populace.  But  a  Whiteboy,  who  carries  into 
effect  the  wishes  of  his  own  order,  who  executes  a  law  of  opinion,  has  nothing  to 
fear  but  the  power  of  a  magistrate  ;  he  knows  that  the  sharper  the  pain  which  he 
inflicts,  the  louder  and  more  general  will  be  the  approbation  of  his  fellows.  Nothing 
is  more  common  than  to  see  how  persons,  when  acting  as  members  of  a  body,  will 
throw  off  those  moral  restraints  by  which  they  are  habitually  governed  in  their  in- 
dividual capacity.  Not  only  does  this  arise  from  the  consciousness  of  power,  (every 
member  of  a  body,  as  Thucydides  has  remarked,  thinking  himself  worth  more  than 
a  unit,)  but  also  from  the  anticipation  of  support  from  his  party,  and  the  absence 
of  the  check  of  general  reprobation.  Hence  we  have  seen,  that  aristocracies  have, 

ii 


96  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

in  their  collective  capacities,  perpetrated  acts  from  which  individuals  among  them 
would  have  shrunk  with  horror  ;  hence  we  see,  that  in  mobs  people  mutually  en- 
courao-e  and  urge  on  one  another  into  excesses  which  they  would  never  have  coolly 
planned  as  isolated  individuals.  That  the  difference  between  England  and  Ireland 
in  the  carelessness  of  human  life,  arises,  not  so  much  from  the  nature  of  the  people, 
as  from  the  difference  of  the  circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  appears  from 
the  fact,  that,  when  in  England  the  opinion  of  a  large  body  has  been  in  favour  of 
atrocious  crimes,  atrocious  crimes  have  been  committed.  Of  this,  the  outrages  per- 
petrated by  the  Trades'  Unions  afford  a  sufficient  proof:  the  murder  of  Mr.  Ashton, 
in  Cheshire,  by  two  men,  who  were  hired  by  the  Trades'  Union,  and  received  ten 
pounds  for  killing  him,  is  equal  in  atrocity  to  almost  any  Irish  murder." 

I  would  fain  hope,  (though  one  or  two  highly  educated  and  intelligent  Irishmen 
have  assured  me  that  Mr.  Lewis's  view  is  an  incorrect  one,)  that  in  this  statement 
lies  gome  apology  for  Irish  murders. 

Ross-trevor  is  the  united  surnames  of  two  respectable  families,  whose  properties 
were  here  united  by  a  marriage  of  their  representatives.  On  the  beach  stands  a 
slender  and  graceful  obelisk,  erected  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the  former  name, 
who  fell  at  the  attack  on  Baltimore,  the  brave  GENERAL  Ross. 

On  the  road  from  Newry  to  Ross-trevor,  stands  the  pretty  CASTLE  OF  NARROW- 
WATER,  situated  most  picturesquely  among  the  graceful  mountains  of  Ulster,  on  the 
river  Newry.  The  broad  surface  of  the  river  is  here  contracted  by  a  protruding 
rock,  on  whose  surface  stands  the  castle,  in  a  position  that  enables  it  to  command, 
in  the  most  entire  manner,  the  only  pass  to  the  town  of  Newry.  The  date  of  its 
foundation  is  not  precisely  known,  but  it  was  subsequent  to  the  Restoration,  and 
its  erection  is  ascribed  to  the  Duke  of  Ormonde.  When  its  defensive  properties 
were  no  longer  necessary,  it  was  abandoned  to  a  commercial  speculator,  who  es- 
tablished salt-works  within  it,  and  upon  their  removal,  it  was  occupied  for  some 
time  as  a  dog-kennel.  This  interior  desecration  has  not  detracted  from  the  perma- 
nent beauty  that  accompanies  its  position,  nor  impaired  the  majesty  of  its  exterior 
form.  The  contraction  of  the  channel  rendered  this  an  advantageous  place  for  the 
establishment  of  a  castle,  for  the  defence  of  a  pass  or  exaction  of  toll ;  and  it  is 
supposed,  that  the  founder  constructed  a  causeway  of  large  stones,  with  an  open- 
ing for  vessels  in  the  centre,  directly  across  the  river  here.  The  rocks  used  in  its 
construction  continued  to  interrupt  the  navigation  for  many  years  back,  and  en- 
gineers were  consulted  upon  the  practicability  and  expense  of  their  removal ;  but, 
considering  it  to  be  a  natural  formation,  they  represented  the  task  as  difficult,  and 
returned  an  estimate  in  proportion.  Accident  discovered  the  true  character  of  the 
rocky  bar,  which,  in  the  year  1831,  was  removed  at  a  trifling  expense,  and  the  na- 
vigation opened  from  the  sea  to  Newry. 


IV     '  .  t 


i  individuals  among  i  • 

nobs  pwplc  mutually  en- 

,  w-.ui  I  never  have  c< 

»ci-.n  England  and  Ireland 

the  nature  of  the  people, 

;ire  pl:t>  «1,  appears  from 

h-.i  )j«en  in  favour  of 

-.  :!ie  uutragts  per- 

i ;  '.<\  .Mr.  Ashton, 

;  ;•:   ii-jier.'ed  ten 


•i  iijiii  •     -.''jr  some 
•m  :!i._>  pcrma- 
'•..-  exterior 
a-    ;:  lace 'for  the 
oi   i.)!i;  and  it  is 
•  *ith  an  open- 
rocks  used  in  its 

.      li'ici; .  :• 


ch;i 


.SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  27 


III. 

I  LEFT   Belfast  for  Larne,  in  company  with  my  kinsman,  Dr.  Wall,  of  Dublin,  on 
a  rainy  morning  at  daylight.     Cowering  under  an  umbrella,  on  an  outside  car,  we 
felt  that  the  promise  for  the  day's  enjoyment  was  a  poor  one;   but  we  had  scarce 
reached  the  base  of  Cave  Hill,  before  the  clouds  broke  away,  and  the  chequered 
light  thrown  over  the  landscape  through  the  flying  clouds,  was  more  favourable 
even  than  clear  sunshine  to  the  scenery.      The  view    of   BELFAST   LOUGH  from 
CAVE  HILL  is  exceedingly  fine,  commanding,  besides  the  whole  of  the  Lough,  the 
greater  part  of  the  Down  county,  and  in  clear  weather,  the  coast  of  Scotland.    The 
fine  sheet  of  water  lying  below  the  eye,  (the  Vinderius  of  Ptolemy,)  is  called,  in- 
discriminately, the  Bay  of  Carrickfergus  and  Belfast  Lough.     It  is,  (says  Curry's 
Guide  to  the  County  of  Antrim,  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  much  information,) 
about  twelve  miles  long  and   five  broad,  measuring  from  Groomsport,  in  Down, 
to  Whitehead,  on  the  Antrim  side.      The  breadth  gradually   diminishes   from   the 
entrance  to  the  embouchure  of  the  river  Logan,  and  the   channel,  formerly  very 
shallow  near  that  place,  has  been  so  deepened  by  skilful  management,  as  to  admit 
vessels  which  draw  thirteen  feet  of  water,  close  to  the  wharfs.    There  is  a  deep  pool, 
called  Carmoyl  or  Garmoyle,  about  one  mile  from  the  south  shore,  opposite  Holly- 
wood, where  vessels  ride  at  low  water,  when  the  bank  within  twenty  yards  is  com- 
pletely dry.     There  are  scarcely  any  rocks  in  this  bay,  except  one  reef  on  the  north 
side,  (which  is  covered  at  high  water,)  called  by  the  Irish  the  Briggs,  i.  e.  the 
tombs ;  but  by  the  Scotch  the  Clachan,  from  its  resemblance  to  a  village  when  un- 
covered at  low  water.     There  is  a  shoal  a  little  south-west  of  Carrickfergus,  over 
which  lies  three  fathom  of  water  at  ebb-tide.      The  Speedwell,  a  Scotch  ship,  in 
King  William's  reign,  was  the  only  ship  ever  known  to  suffer  on  it.      The  Down 
coast  is  distinctly  seen  during  the  drive  to  Carrickfergus,  and  is  beautifully  diversi- 
fied with  seats  and  villages ;  of  these  the  most  important  are   Hollywood  and 
Bangor,  whose  sites  appear  peculiarly  well  chosen.    Near  the  latter  town,  at  a  little 
inlet  called  Groomsport  Bay,  the  Duke  Schomberg  first  cast  anchor.     At  the  en- 
trance are  seen  the  Copeland  Isles,  so  called  from  a  family  of  that  name  settled  on 
the  coast  of  Down  in  the  twelfth  century ;  and  passing  a  few  miles  onward,  by  a 
range  of  fine  villas,  the  town  and  castle  of  Carrickfergus  are  presented  in  the  front 
field  of  the  view.     The  latter  is  a  bold  and  magnificent  object,  standing  upon  a 
reef  of  rocks  projecting  into  the  bay,  by  which  means  in  this  approach  its  outline 
is  most  clearly  and  strongly  defined  to  the  eye  of  the  spectator.      The  shore  near 


28 


SCENBRY    OF    IRELAND. 


Carrickfergus  is  said  to  be  particularly  adapted  to  bathing,  from  its  freedom  from 
mud  and  ooze,  and  the  cottages  erected  along  the  shore,  are  let  at  high  rents  during 
the  bathing-season.  It  was  in  the  Bay  of  Carrickfergus  that  Paul  Jones  appeared 
in  1778,  and,  after  a  bloody  engagement,  captured  the  British  sloop-of-war,  Drake. 
The  CASTLB  OF  CARRICKFERGUS  forms  a  most  noble  projection  on  the  bay,  and 
in  every  view  of  the  town  is  a  most  conspicuous  and  picturesque  object.  At  com- 
mon tides  three  sides  of  the  building  are  enclosed  by  water.  The  greatest  height 
of  the  rock  is  at  its  further  extremity,  where  it  is  about  thirty  feet,  shelving  con- 
siderably towards  the  land;  the  walls  of  the  castle  following  exactly  its  different. 
windings.*  Towards  the  town  are  two  towers,  called,  from  their  shape,  half-moons, 
and  between  these  is  the  only  entrance,  which  is  defended  by  a  strait  passage,  with 
embrasures  for  fire-arms.  About  the  centre  of  this  passage  was  formerly  a  draw- 
bridge ;  a  part  of  the  barbican  that  protected  the  bridge  can  still  be  seen.  A  dam, 
west  of  the  castle,  is  believed  to  have  been  originally  made  to  supply  the  ditch  at 
this  entrance  with  water.  Between  the  half-moons  is  a  strong  gate,  above  which  is 
a  machicolation,  or  aperture  for  letting  fall  stones,  melted  lead  or  the  like,  on  the 
assailants.  Inside  this  gate  is  a  portcullis,  and  an  aperture  for  the  like  purpose  as 
that  just  mentioned;  the  arches  and  each  side  of  this  apert  re  are  of  the  Gothic 
kind,  and  the  only  ones  observed  about  the  building.  In  the  gun-room  of  these 
towers  are  a  few  pieces  of  light  ordnance.  A  window  in  the  east  tower,  inside,  is 
ornamented  with  round  pillars  ;  the  columns  are  five  feet  high,  including  base  and 
capital,  and  five  inches  and  a  half  in  diameter.  The  centre  column  seems  to  be  a 
rude  attempt  at  the  Ionic ;  the  flank  columns  have  the  leaves  of  the  Corinthian  ; 
their  bases  consist  of  two  toruses.  Within  the  gates  is  the  lower  yard,  or  balium ; 
on  the  right  are  the  guard-room  and  a  barrack  ;  the  latter  was  built  in  1802.  Op- 
posite these  are  large  vaults,  said  to  be  bomb-proof,  over  which  are  a  few  neat 
apartments  occupied  by  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  ordnance-storekeeper,  and 
master-gunner.  A  little  southward  are  the  armourer's  forge,  and  a  furnace  for 
heating  shot;  near  which,  on  the  outer  wall  of  the  castle,  is  a  small  projecting 
tower,  called  the  lion's  den. 

The  tower  is  divided  into  five  stones ;  the  largest  room  was  formerly  in  the  third 
story,  with  semicircular  windows.  It  was  called  Fergus's  dining-room,  and  was 
twenty-five  feet  ten  inches  high,  forty  feet  long,  and  thirty-eight  broad.  Within  the 
keep  was  formerly  a  draw-well,  thirty-seven  feet  deep,  the  water  of  which  was  anciently 
celebrated  for  medicinal  purposes.  This  well  is  now  nearly  filled  up  with  rubbish. 

The  following  notice  of  this  castle  is  given  in  a  survey  by  George  Clarkson,  in 
1567.  "  The  building  of  the  said  castle  on  the  south  part  is  three  towers,  viz.,  the 

*  M'Skimmin's  History  of  Carrickfergns. 


\ 


a  fair  and  comely  buildin 


reparation,  it  will 
We  enioyd  ih(. 


lift   us,  ti 


out  t'or.a  <ti-"l'  :»'<•! KJ   :ii     • 


•tone,  both  of  wl 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  29 

gate-house  tower  in  the  middle  thereof,  which  is  the  entry  at  a  draw-bridge,  over 
a  dry  moat ;  and  in  said  tower  is  a  prison  and  porter-lodge,  and  over  the  same  a 
fair  lodging,  called  the  constable's  lodging ;  and  in  the  courtain  between  the  gate- 
house and  west  tower  in  the  corner,  being  of  divers  squares,  called  Cradyfergus,  is 
a  fair  and  comely  building,  a  chapel,  and  divers  houses  of  office,  on  the  ground, 
and  above  the  great  chamber  and  the  lords'  lodging,  all  v.liich  is  now  in  great  decaie 
as  well  as  the  couverture  being  lead,  also  in  timber  and  glass,  and  without  help  and 
reparation,  it  will  soon  come  to  utter  ruin." 

We  enjoyed  the  delightful  view  of  Carrickfergus  Bay,  by  snatches,  during  almost 
the  whole  of  the  road  from  Cave  Hill  to  Larne.  It  was  the  first  week  in  February, 
a  time  of  the  year  when  in  America  we  have  almost  forgotten  the  colour  of  the 
snow-covered  ground,  and  here  were  fields  of  the  brightest  and  tenderest  green, 
cattle  grazing,  birds  singing,  every  sign  of  an  October  morning,  indeed,  except  the 
leaves  on  the  trees.  The  wintriest  picture  of  the  scene  was  an  occasional  bleach- 
ing-field,  where,  in  long  stripes  upon  the  grass,  lay  the  white  linen,  resembling  the 
vanishing  snow-wreaths  in  an  American  thaw.  There  seemed  to  me  very  little 
difference  between  summer  and  winter  in  Ireland,  for  in  my  first  visit  to  the  country, 
in  August,  I  was  travelling  with  the  same  degree  of  clothing,  and  I  am  sure  the 
winds  were  as  chilly  then  as  now,  and  the  fields  no  greener. 

We  came  very  suddenly  upon  LARNE,  and  at  the  same  moment  that  we  turned 
over  the  eda;e  of  the  deep  glen  on  which  it  lies,  the  sun  broke  out  upon  the  lovely 
bay  and  village  below,  illuminating  the  whole  scene  with  a  light  such  as  a  painter 
would  have  chosen.  It  was,  indeed,  a  delicious  picture,  and  there  was  something 
Italian,  no  less  in  the  soft  vapoury  light  in  which  it  was  bathed,  than  in  the  posi- 
tion and  aspect  of  the  town.  Island  Magee  lay  in  fine  outline  across  the  bay,  and 
on  a  narrow  tongue  of  land,  called  the  Curraan,  stood  the  ruins  of  an  old  castle, 
giving  a  romantic  and  foreign  look  to  the  entire  scene.  Our  car-driver  descended  too 
fast  for  us,  though  our  breakfast  was  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  entering  a  narrow 
and  old-fashioned  street,  he  deposited  us  at  a  small  and  tidy  inn,  so  like  the  same 
thing  in  Italy,  (the  street  and  inn  of  a  small  village  between  Rome  and  Florence,) 
that  the  illusion  was  difficult  to  shake  off.  We  ordered  our  breakfast,  and  started 
out  for  a  stroll  along  the  crescent  of  the  little  bay,  and,  hungry  as  we  were,  the  im- 
pression made  on  us  by  its  spring-like  softness  and  beauty,  is  among  the  most  agree- 
able of  my  Irish  recollections.  Larne,  (says  the  Guide  Book  to  the  Giant's 
Causeway,)  was  anciently  called  Inver,  (which  signifies  lowly  situated.)  Its  trade 
was  once  of  some  importance,  and  even  yet  it  is  not  contemptible.  The  duties  in 
the  year  1810,  amounted  to  £.14,000,  and  there  is  still  occasion  to  make  it  the  re- 
sidence of  a  collector.  The  chief  articles  of  commerce  here  are  rock-salt  and  lime- 
stone, both  of  which  are  exported  in  very  considerable  quantities.  There  is  a  good 

i 


30  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

deal  of  cotton-weaving,  and  a  manufacture  of  sail-cloth,  with  some  other  traffic 
connected  with  nautical  affairs,  Larne  being  the  best  harbour  on  this  coast,  from 
Belfast  Lough  to  Derry. 

The  town  consists  of  two  divisions,  usually  called  the  old  and  new  towns ;  the 
old  one  is  built  on  rather  an  irregular  plan,  the  latter  consists  of  one  long  avenue, 
in  which  there  are  several  excellent  houses.  The  population  amounts  to  about 
three  thousand  souls.  There  are,  besides  the  parish  church,  one  Methodist  meet- 
ing-house, three  Presbyterian,  and  one  Roman  Catholic,  chapel. 

The  most  interesting  historical  record,  in  the  vicinity  of  Larne,  is  the  castle  of 
Olderfleet,  before  mentioned,  standing  on  the  extremity  of  the  peninsula,  called  the 
Curraan,*  a  sort  of  natural  pier,  forming  the  northern  side  of  the  Larne  harbour ; 
and  completely  commanding  the  strait  by  which  it  is  entered.  In  the  road  from 
the  town  to  the  castle,  the  ruins  of  a  little  chapel,  called  Clondumales,  are  passed. 
The  castle  is  now  an  insignificant  ruin,  but  the  advantage  and  dignity  of  its  situa- 
tion can  never  fail  of  attracting  the  visitor.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  by 
one  of  the  Bissetts,  a  powerful  Scotch  family,  upon  whom  Henry  III.  bestowed 
large  possessions  in  the  barony  of  Glenarm,  some  of  which  were  forfeited  by  Hugh 
Bissett  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  for  rebellion.  James  M'Donnell,  Lord  of 
Kantyre,  asserted  his  claim  to  this  land  in  right  of  the  Bissetts,  but  his  son  ^Eneas 
was  content  to  accept  of  them  on  conditions  approved  of  by  Elizabeth,  viz.,  that 
lie  would  not  carry  arms  under  any  but  the  kings  of  England,  and  would  pay  an 
annual  tribute  of  hawks  and  cattle. 

It  was  on  the  peninsula  of  the  Curraan  that  Edward  Bruce  effected  his  landing, 
in  1315,  with  the  expectation  of  making  himself  king  of  Ireland,  which  vain  and 
foolish  ambition  caused  so  much  bloodshed  through  the  east  of  Ireland,  and  was 
productive  of  such  dreadful  calamities,  to  the  English  settlers  particularly. 

The  castle  of  Olderfleet  became  important  as  a  defensive  fortress  against  the  pre- 
datory bands  of  Scots,  who  infested  the  north-eastern  coasts,  and  was  generally  un- 
der the  direction  of  a  governor.  In  1569,  we  find  Sir  Moyses  Hill  held  this  office, 
but  in  1598,  being  thought  no  longer  useful,  it  was  abolished.  After  changing 
proprietors  several  times,  the  castle  was  finally  granted  to  Sir  Arthur  Chichester,  in 
1610,  by  James  I.  At  Olderfleet  will  be  found  a  ferry-boat,  which  plies  regularly 
between  that  point  and  Island  Magee,  for  which  passage  one  penny  is  demanded  ; 
and,  having  landed,  the  pedestrian  will  find  two  roads,  one  towards  Brown's  Bay, 
another  along  the  Larne  side :  let  him  take  the  former.  Of  this  island  a  curious 
and  brief  account  is  to  be  met  with  in  a  private  MS.  in  this  county,  which  men- 

*  Curraan  is  a  corruption  of  the  Irish  word  carrian,  a  hoop,  which  the  curved  form  of  the 
peninsula  suggested  originally. 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  31 

tion  s  that  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  it  was  a  complete  waste,  without  any  wood, 
although  a  fertile  soil ;  and  that  the  queen  had  granted  a  lease  of  it  to  Savage,  a 
follower  of  the  Earl  of  Essex.  At  this  time,  says  the  MS.,  it  was  inhabited  by 
the  Magees,  from  whom  it  derives  its  name. 

Not  far  from  the  landing-place  stands  a  druidical  cromlech.  The  covering  stone, 
which  rests  on  three  supporters,  is  six  feet  in  length,  and  of  a  triangular  shape  ; 
its  inclination  is  to  the  rising  sun.  On  the  east  of  Brown's  Bay  is  a  rocking-stone, 
or  giant's  cradle,  which  was  said  to  acquire  a  rocking,  tremulous  motion  at  the  ap- 
proach of  sinners  or  malefactors :  there  were  many  of  these  over  the  face  of  the 
kingdom,  but  they  are  now  dislodged  in  most  places,  so  that  the  few  which  remain 
are  most  interesting  curiosities.  They  were  so  ingeniously  poised,  that  the  slightest 
impulse  was  capable  of  rocking  a  mass  which  the  greatest  strength  was  unable  to 
dislodge ;  nor  does  there  appear  to  be  any  contrivance  adopted  but  the  circum- 
stance of  placing  the  stone  upon  its  rude  pedestal.  Until  a  very  late  period,  Island 
Magee  was  the  residence  of  witches,  and  the  theatre  of  sorcery:  in  1711,  eight 
females  were  tried  upon  this  extraordinary  charge  in  Carrickfergus,  and  the  me- 
mory of  Fairv  Brown  is  still  a  cause  of  terror  among  the  neighbouring  peasantry. 


IV. 

THE  inn  parlour  at  Larne  was  very  clean,  and  the  oreakfast  excellent.  Two  books 
graced  the  old-fashioned  sideboard,  of  which  one  was  a  volume  I  scarce  thought  to 
stumble  upon  so  far  from  home,  a  Biography  of  the  Heroes  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, printed  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  I  had  no  time  to  refresh  my  memory  with  it, 
however,  for  the  day  shone  bright  through  the  little  inn-windows,  and  our  expedi- 
tious landlord,  who  was  to  drive  us  himself  to  Glenarm,  had  his  tandem-car  at  the 
door,  by  the  time  we  had  polished  our  first  egg-shell.  The  car  and  team  were  the 
worst  we  met  with  on  our  excursion,  but  all  deficiencies  were  made  up  by  the  enthu- 
siasm with  which  we  were  driven.  I  never  saw  a  much  more  damaged  grey  mare 
than  the  wheeler,  but  she  was  "  persuaded"  in  a  style  that  would  have  worked 
speed  into  a  tortoise.  Our  Jehu  was  a  merry,  pleasure-loving  looking  boy,  with  a 
very  big  arm,  and  a  most  formidable  whip,  and  spite  of  the  dreadful  dislocation  of 
the  car's  movement,  I  was  in  a  constant  laugh  at  the  tender  terms  with  which  he 
accompanied  blows  that  threatened  to  break  in  the  poor  creature's  ribs  at  every  re- 


32  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

petition.  Imagine  the  contrast  between  tune  and  accompaniment  in  a  performance 
like  this  :  "  Come  up,  woman  ! "  (thwack  !)  "  Go  along,  pet ! "  (thwack  !  thwack !) 
"  Whew,  sweetheart!"  (thwack  !)  "  Hip,  old  mare  !"  (thwack  !  thwack  !  thwack!) 
And  "  da  capo"  for  twelve  Irish  miles. 

The  coast  from  Lame  to  Glenarn  reminded  me  of  the  road  along  the  Mediterra- 
nean in  the  south  of  France.  The  hills  are  not  so  high,  nor  the  road  carried  so 
loftily  as  that  over  the  maritime  Alps,  but  the  profiles  of  the  coast  of  Antrim  are 
holder  and  finer,  and,  indeed,  nothing  can  surpass  the  beauty  of  the  successive 
views  got  at  every  turn  of  the  road.  We  rounded  a  noble  promontory  into  Gle- 
nnrm,  the  church-spire  first  breaking  on  the  view,  and  the  towers  of  the  castle  im- 
mediately after — the  whole  apparition  of  the  town  and  its  fine  points  of  picturesque 
resembling  the  moving  tableaux  of  theatrical  scenery.  We  lost  no  time  in  making 
for  the  castle,  and,  turning  out  of  the  street,  came  directly  upon  the  bridge  con- 
nected with  its  lofty  and  superb  barbican.  A  small  mountain-river  brawls  between 
the  town  and  the  lofty  structure  which,  in  feudal  days,  lodged  its  master  the 
M'Donnell,  and  from  the  deep  water  rises  directly  the  stern  old  wall,  with  its  em- 
brasures and  towers,  in  as  high  preservation  as  on  the  day  it  was  completed.  A 
great  part  of  the  walls  and  ornamental  architecture  of  Glenarm  are  modern,  but  all 
the  additions  are  executed  in  the  finest  spirit  of  antiquity.  A  more  beautiful  gem 
than  the  castellated  structure,  nestled  between  the  overhanging  sides  of  this  ravine, 
I  never  have  seen.  It  has  all  the  charms,  beside,  of  high  care  and  cultivation,  the 
deer-park  stretching  away  up  the  valley,  and  the  green  swards  and  walks  within 
the  grounds  kept  with  the  nice  care  which  distinguishes  the  noble  demesnes  of 
England.  The  excellent  Guide  to  Antrim,  (which  is  graced  with  drawings  by  the 
distinguished  scholar  Petrie,)  gives  the  following  information  relative  to  Glenarn 
and  its  dependencies. 

•'  The  village  of  Glenarm  consists  of  about  two  hundred  cottages,  and  appears 
originally  to  have  been  built  for  the  clansmen  of  the  noble  family,  whose  castle 
stands  beyond  the  river.  The  castle  is  a  stately,  ancient  pile,  in  a  command- 
ing position ;  from  our  front  there  is  a  view  of  the  bay  and  its  enclosing  pro- 
montories, and  from  the  other  a  prospect  up  the  wooded  glen  towards  the  deer 
park.  The  castle  is  large,  and  contains  some  excellent  apartments ;  its  exterior 
presents  something  of  the  character  of  a  baronial  castle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
The  approach  to  the  castle  is  by  a  lofty  barbican  standing  on  the  northern  extre- 
mity of  the  bridge.  Passing  through  this,  a  long  terrace,  overhanging  the  river, 
and  confined  on  the  opposite  side  by  a  lofty,  embattled  curtain-wall,  leads  through 
an  avenue  of  ancient  lime-trees,  to  the  principal  front  of  the  castle,  the  appearance 
of  which  from  this  approach  is  very  impressive.  Lofty  towers,  terminated  with 
cupolas  and  gilded  vanes  occupy  the  angles  of  the  building ;  the  parapets  are 


hose  castle 
command  - 

' 
<ts  exterior 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  33 

crowded   with    gables,  decorated    with    carved  pinnacles,  and    exhibiting  various 
heraldic  ornaments. 

The  hall  is  a  noble  apartment,  forty-four  feet  in  length  by  twenty  in  breadth 
and  thirty-feet  high ;  in  the  centre  of  which  stands  a  handsome  billiard-table. 
Across  one  end  passes  a  gallery,  communicating  with  the  bed-chambers,  and  sup- 
ported by  richly  ornamented  columns,  from  the  grotesque  ornaments  of  which 
springs  a  beautiful  grained  ceiling. 

On  the  principal  floor  are  several  noble  apartments ;  the  dining-parlour,  forty 
feet  by  twenty-four,  ana  the  drawing-room,  forty-four  by  twenty-two,  are  the  most 
spacious  :  the  small  drawing-room,  library,  &c.,  though  of  considerably  less  dimen- 
sions, are  most  commodious  apartments.  The  demesne  of  Glenarm  is  very  exten- 
sive, and  beautifully  wooded  :  it  has  latterly  been  much  improved,  and  many  ob- 
structions to  the  view  removed.  There  is  also  an  enclosure  in  the  glen,  called  the 
Great  Deer  Park,  which  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  most  comprehensive  park 
in  the  kingdom,  and  the  venison  fed  here  the  choicest. 

The  parish-church  stands  near  one  of  the  entrances  to  the  demesne,  upon  the 
beach,  with  a  small  enclosed  cemetery  around.  There  are  no  monuments  in  the 
interior. 

In  the  burying-ground,  around  the  church,  stand  the  remains  of  a  cruciformed 
building,  formerly  a  monastery  for  Franciscan  friars  of  the  third  order. 

This  monastery  was  founded  in  14t>5,  by  Robert  Bissett,  a  Scotchman,  who  was 
banished  his  country  for  aiding  in  the  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Athol,  and  was 
established  here  by  Henry  III.  The  estates  were  subsequently  forfeited  by  the  re- 
bellion of  Hugh  Bissett,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  About  this  time,  John  More 
M'Donnell,  son  of  John,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  landed  here,  and  marrying  Mary,  daugh- 
ter of  Sir  John  Bissett,  claimed  the  lands  called  Glenshiesk,  that  is,  the  baronies  of 
Carey  and  Glenarm ;  and  thus  it  was  that  the  Antrim  family  became  entitled  to  the 
Bissett's  property.  The  barony  of  Dunluce  became  the  property  of  the  M'Donnell's 
in  right  of  M'Quillan's  daughter,  who  married  a  M'Donnell,  and  so  the  claim  of 
the  M'Donnells  to  three  baronies  of  the  county  became  perfectly  plain.  This  family 
was  ennobled  by  the  title  of  Viscount  Dunluce,  in  the  person  of  Sir  Randal 
M'Sorley  M'Donnell,  of  Dunluce,  June  25th,  1618.  The  same  distinguished  per- 
sonage was  two  years  after  raised  to  the  Earldom  of  Antrim.  His  son  Randal, 
afterwards  Marquis  of  Antrim  was  equally  remarkable  for  his  abilities  and  mis- 
fortunes. He  was  treacherously  arrested  on  one  occasion  by  Muriro,  while  enter- 
taining him  with  hospitality  at  his  castle  of  Dunluce,  and  confined  in  the  castle  of 
Carrickfergus,  whence  he  escaped  to  York,  and  complained  to  the  queen.  Return- 
ing to  Ireland  again  with  instructions,  he  was  seized  once  more  by  the  avaricious 
and  treacherous  general,  and  committed  to  the  same  castle,  from  which  he  a 

VOL.  I.  K 


34  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND 

second  time  effected  his  escape,  and  flying  into  England,  by  the  assistance  of  the 
Marquis  of  Montrose,  was  commissioned  to  raise  a  force  in  Ireland  for  his  majesty 
and  transport  it  into  Scotland  to  oppose  the  Covenanters.  The  marquis  married, 
first,  the  widow  of  George  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and,  secondly,  Rose, 
daughter  of  Sir  Henry  O'Neill,  of  Shane's  Castle,  but  dying  without  issue,  the  title 
of  marquis  became  extinct,  and  the  earldom  devolved  on  his  brother  Alex- 
ander. 

The  monastery  of  Glenarm,  though  founded  by  the  Bissetts,  appears  to  have  been 
retained  by  the  crown  from  the  time  of  Edward  II.,  and  granted  to  Alexander 
M'Donnell  in  1557,  in  tlie  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  at  which  time  he  was  presented 
by  the  lord  deputy,  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  with  a  gold  sword  and  silver-gilt  spurs  for 
his  services  against  the  Scots. 

The  remains  of  the  monastery  are  very  insignificant.  Near  the  eastern  end  stands 
a  monument,  dated  1720,  bearing  the  crest  of  a  hand  and  dagger,  but  the  inscrip- 
tion is  not  legible.  The  tomb-stones  all  round  are  ornamented  by  the  arms  of  each 
family  carved  thereon ;  and  from  the  ages  on  the  slabs,  it  would  appear,  that  longe- 
vity is  a  gift  bestowed  upon  the  innocent  inhabitants  of  Glenarm.  The  ages  on  the 
tombs,  some  exceeding  one  hundred  years,  may,  perhaps,  prove  this  to  be  that  bless- 
ed portion  of  "  this  sainted  isle,"  where  the  inhabitants  live  so  long,  that  they 
.sometimes  find  a  continuance  of  existence  burdensome,  in  which  case  their  friends 
are  said  to  convey  them  to  an  adjacent  country,  where  the  spirit  will  sooner  relax 
its  tenacious  hold. 

There  are  some  membersof  the  Antrim  family  buried  at  Glenarm ;  but  the  Abbey 
of  Bona  Margery,  near  Ballycastle,  is  their  place  of  rest.  In  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, O'Neill  the  Great  was  killed  in  the  camp  of  Sorley  Boy,  and  his  body,  being 
removed  to  Glenarn,  was  interred  in  the  Franciscan  monastery  of  that  place.  Not 
long  after,  a  friar  from  Armagh  appeared  at  the  monastery,  and  was  admitted  to  its 
shelter  and  hospitality ;  and  when  near  about  to  take  his  leave,  he  thus  addressed 
the  abbot :  "  Father,  I  am  come  from  our  brothers  of  Armagh,  to  beg  that  you 
would  grant  me  leave  to  remove  the  body  of  the  great  O'Neill,  who  lies  buried 
here,  to  the  grave  of  his  ancestors  at  Armagh.1 

The  abbot  paused  awhile,  then  answered,  "  Have  you  brought  hither  the  corpse 
of  my  Lord  James,  of  Cantyre,  which  was  interred  amongst  the  strangers  at 
Armagh?"  To  which  the  friar  replying,  that  he  had  not ;  "  Then,"  said  the  abbot, 
"  while  you  walk  over  the  grave  of  my  Lord  James,  of  Cantyre,  at  Armagh,  I  will 
trample  upon  the  great  O'Neill  at  Glenarm ; "  and  so,  at  midnight,  dismissed  his 
guest. 

The  Bay  of  Glenarm  is  formed  by  a  deep  circular  winding  of  the  shore,  and  is 
protected  on  each  side  by  lofty  headlands.  There  is  deep  water  here,  and  a  quay 


SliKXUHV    t.F 

'.in   .'!,:,.     i          .  :M  :"-.  !  'wsaltit-  pier  r>n  the  north 

i  I>H!V       tirx-a*.  advantage  here,  but  of  very  unUi 

I'oi-r,  f  -tin-  Irish- Sea;  for,  from  the  tr.-i 

'Oil-    •  lid'.1,   Li' 

st,  nor  ir  the 
ol     Further,  i;-,r  Ti>im,_ 
precjarious,  that  if  docs  turt  v 
the  hardihood  to  prosecute  it 
erection  of  a  pier  in    tlu-.  -In 
•  when  the  sea  assumed   on 
BO  frequent  on  the  Antrim  i . 
fisherman's  l>c'v.t  is  dia-.  i;  up   ' 
quant ir\  of  !:.•;_••  st*i 
piace  of  retr"»it  in  tl;<    inn 


We  w 

and.  \\  i  i 


Die  it.u 


but  by  non.'  •  •  .1^1 
With  an  easy  CM 
and  a  bright  FUTI, 
Glenarm  to  Cushe 
glens,  *aud  observe; 
tit  the  browot  the 


,  to  .  ••;  .von  ol'  Red  lijiy.     Ti>, 

-uinnjit  ol  ('nia.-h-H--iuo,   whil.:  that  to  the  north   is 
.ntai'i  o\   LjirSci-U.     uot  unlike  the  frustum  oi  mi 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  35 

might  readily  be  formed  by  building  upon  a  natural  basaltic  pier  on  the  north  side 
of  the  bay.  This  would  be  not  only  of  great  advantage  here,  but  of  very  universal 
benefit  to  the  shipping  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Irish  Sea ;  for,  from  the  tremen- 
dous swell,  and  precipitous  shore,  the  land  is  unapproachable  when  the  wind  blows 
from  the  north-east,  nor  is  there  a  sheltering  harbour  on  this  coast  from  Lough 
Foyle  to  Larne.  Further,  the  fishing  along  the  coast  is  at  present  so  exceedingly 
precarious,  that  it  does  not  yield  a  sufficient  return  to  the  poor  seaman,  who  has 
the  hardihood  to  prosecute  it.  This  would  be  remedied,  to  a  certain  extent,  by  the 
erection  of  a  pier  in  this  harbour,  where  the  little  skiff  might  fly  for  protection 
when  the  sea  assumed  one  of  those  angry  perturbations  which  are  so  sudden  and 
so  frequent  on  the  Antrim  coast.  At  present,  for  seven  months  and  upwards,  the 
fisherman's  boat  is  drawn  up  on  the  beach,  and  the  inverted  hulk  secured  by  a 
quantity  of  large  stones  until  the  return  of  the  milder  season  ;  for  as  he  has  no 
piace  of  retreat  in  the  hurricane,  and  he  dares  not  approach  the  shore  while  it  con- 
tinues, he  is  obliged  to  abandon  this  vocation  altogether,  and  seek  another  and  less 
perilous  mode  of  subsistence. 

We  were  very  glad  to  be  rid  of  our  two  miserable  jades  and  the  Larne  post-car, 
and,  with  many  a  lingering  look  behind  at  tho  romantic  castle  of  Glenarm  and  its 
green  valley  and  bright  river,  we  took  the  new  road  to  Cushendall.  If  the  engineer 
of  the  new  and  capital  coast-road  of  Antrim  had  worked  with  a  poet  and  painter 
at  his  back,  he  could  not  have  laid  out  its  course  more  agreeably  to  the  eye  and 
the  imagination.  It  is  constructed  with  equal  skill,  taste,  and  enterprise,  cliffs  cut 
through,  chasms  crossed,  water-courses  walled  and  bridged — a  roughly-ribbed  and 
jagged  coast,  in  short,  traversed  by  a  road  as  smooth  and  almost  as  level  as  a 
tennis-court.  I  have  been  surprised  by  the  excellence  of  the  roads  all  over  Ireland, 
but  by  none  so  agreeably  as  this. 

With  an  easy  car,  a  smart  little  Shetland  mare,  a  silent,  but  good-natured  driver, 
and  a  bright  sun,  we  should  have  been  difficult  not  to  have  enjoyed  our  drive  from 
Glenarm  to  Cushendall.  We  crossed  the  outlets  of  several  deep  and  romantic 
glens,  and  observed  that  there  was  not  one  without  its  waterfall.  Over  one  or  two, 
at  the  brow  of  the  precipice  from  which  the  white  torrent  took  its  first  leap,  we 
noticed  light  bridges,  and  plantations  in  their  neighbourhood,  indicating  park- 
scenery  on  the  table-land  above.  We  soon  entered  upon  the  curve  of  the  Red  Bay, 
and  crossed  the  entrance  of  the  wild  VALE  OF  GLENARIFF,  "  called  sometimes 
Glen-aireamp,  the  valley  of  numbers,  and  Glen-aireachaib,  the  valley  of  chiefs." 
Up  this  glen  is  the  waterfall  with  the  musical  name  of  Isnaleara,  which  sends  its 
waters  to  the  sea  near  the  caves  of  Red  Bay.  The  prospect  to  the  west  is  termi- 
nated by  the  lofty  conical  summit  of  Cruach-a-crue,  while  that  to  the  north  is 
limited  by  the  extraordinary  mountain  of  Lurgeidan,  not  unlike  the  frustum  of  an 


36  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

enormous  cone  of  considerable  altitude,  but  whose  base  is  disproportionately  nai- 
row.  Passing  the  neglected  hamlet  of  Waterford,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Glenariff 
river,  the  caves  of  Red  Bay  are  reached  :  they  are  excavations  probably  formed  at 
some  remote  period  by  the  inroads  of  the  tide,  which  is  now  excluded  by  the  em- 
baiiKinent  in  front,  in  a  species  of  soft  red  sand-stone.  There  are  three  of  tolera- 
ble magnitude,  one  of  which  is  very  appropriately  converted  into  a  smith's  forge, 
;ind  affords  a  very  Cyclopean  appearance.  A  second  is  reported  to  be  the  residence 
of  a  female,  (Nancy  Murray,  the  driver  called  her,)  whose  trade  is  the  sale  of  illicit 
spirits.  The  ruined  castle  of  Red  Bay  towered  above  us  as  we  passed  from  a 
lofty  arch  cut  through  the  southern  extremity  of  one  of  the  red  cliffs,  and  beneath 
this  is  a  cave,  said  once  to  have  been  used  as  a  school.  The  castle  was  built,  it  is 
said,  by  the  Bissetts,  from  whom  the  Antrim  family  derive  this  barony. 

A  fine  conical  mound  rose  up  before  us  as  we  approached  Cushendall,  and  a  few 
minutes  brought  us  in  sight  of  this  most  picturesque  little  village.  I  was  imme- 
diately reminded  of  Amalfi,  in  looking  down  upon  it ;  and,  indeed,  this  whole  coast 
has  the  peculiar  character  of  that  of  the  Bay  of  Salerno.  The  softness  of  the 
atmosphere  added  something  no  doubt  to  the  resemblance — for  I  descended  Sca- 
racatoja,  on  my  way  to  Salerno  in  the  same  month,  and  with  very  much  such 
weather. 

We  entered  the  small  inn  of  Cushendall,  and  found  the  hostess,  a  remarkably 
handsome  young  woman,  reading  the  Bible.  Religion  and  neatness  are  inseparable, 
as  every  traveller  knows  ;  and  after  a  look  into  the  cheerful  kitchen  and  tidy  little 
parlour,  I  regretted  that  night  had  not  overtaken  us  at  Cushendall.  While  our  next 
Jehu  was  getting  ready  his  car,  however,  we  sat  down  by  the  kitchen-fire  and 
lunched  upon  most  exemplary  bread  and  butter,  our  modest  and  neatly-dressed 
landlady  attending  upon  us  with  a  kindness  and  ease  that  would  have  graced  the 
castle  of  Glenarm.  If  I  were  ever  in  want  of  romantic  scenery  and  a  pleasant  re- 
treat from  the  world,  Cushendall  would  be  among  the  first  spots  that  would  occur 
to  my  memory.  Our  horse  and  car  from  this  inn  were  the  best  we  saw  on  our  tour 
to  the  north,  and,  with  a  fine  lad  for  a  driver,  we  wirled  away  towards  the  wild 
mountain-road  that  lies  between  Cushendall  and  Ballycastle.  We  left  the  coast  for 
some  time,  and  on  reaching  it  again,  came  in  sight  of  the  magnificent  headland  of 
FAIR  HEAD,  one  of  the  noblest  points  of  this  remarkable  coast.  "  The  promon- 
tory of  Fair  Head  rises  perpendicularly  to  the  height  of  six  hundred  and  thirty-one 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  On  approaching  its  summit,  the  tourist  will  per- 
ceive two  small  lakes,  Lough  Dhu  and  Lough-na-Cranagh,  and  near  to  its  highest 
point,  a  curious  cave,  said  to  have  been  a  Pict's  house."  The  view  from  this  nead- 
land  is  of  a  most  enchanting  description — to  the  west,  the  whole  line  of  finely  va- 
riegated limestone  and  basaltic  coast,  as  far  as  Bangore  Head  ;  the  beautiful  pro- 


.    Ulll- 

ith  of  the  Glenarifi 

i<robably_forined  at 

(.•luded  by  the  era- 

n:  three  of  tolera- 

ito  a  smith's  forge, 

>  be  the  residence 

s  the  sale  of  illicit 

(.ii«(.i!  from  a 

rfs,  and  beneath 

•   was  built,  it  is 

I .  and  a  few 
I   war>  imme- 


"•:  i    •!"•!  n<\\  little. 

'if   kitviK  ii-iin-  and 

«f  :uii.i    ii'>ntlv-dressed 

MVI! •'.  have  praced  the 

'>_i  iinJ  n  plf-asant  re- 

••t-i  that  would  occur 

•*>•  «.»w  on  our  tour 

"-i\  towards  the  wild 

Wt-  left  the  coast  for 

rnrifrnt  headland  of 

.ist.     l>  The  promon- 

'i.dred  and1  thirty-one 

the  tourist  will  per- 


The  v^ew  from  this  nead- 

ic  *f*t,  the  whffla  line  of  finely  va- 

Bongore  Head;  the  bemotifui  pro- 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  37 

montory  of  Renbaan  or  Whitehead,  majestically  presenting  its  snow-white  front  to 
the  foaming  ocean — the  swinging-bridge  and  bay  of  Carric-a-rede — beyond  this, 
Sheep  Island — and  directly  in  front,  the  island  of  Raghery ;  and  to  the  east,  the 
Scottish  coast,  &c.  as  already  described. 

The  promontory  of  Fairhead  is  formed  of  a  number  of  basaltic  colossal  pillars, 
many  of  them  of  a  much  larger  size  than  any  to  be  seen  at  the  Causeway ;  in  some 
instances  exceeding  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  five  in  breadth  ;  one  of  them 
forming  a  quadrangular  prism,  thirty-three  feet  by  thirty-six  on  the  sides,  and  of 
the  gigantic  altitude  we  have  just  mentioned.  It  is  said  to  be  the  largest  basaltic 
pillar  yet  discovered  upon  the  face  of  our  globe,  exceeding  in  diameter  the  pedestal 
that  supports  the  statue  of  Peter  the  Great,  at  Petersburgh,  and  considerably  sur- 
passing in  length  the  shaft  of  Pompey's  Pillar,  at  Alexandria.  At  the  foot  of  this 
magnificent  colonnade  is  seen  an  immense  mass  of  rock,  similarly  formed,  like  a 
wide  waste  of  natural  ruins,  which  are  by  some  supposed  to  have  been,  in  the  course 
of  successive  ages,  tumbled  down  from  their  original  foundation,  by  storms  or  some 
violent  operation  of  nature.  These  massive  bodies  have  sometimes  withstood  the 
shock  of  their  fall,  and  often  lie  in  groups  and  clumps  of  pillars,  resembling  many 
of  the  varieties  of  artificial  ruins,  and  forming  a  very  novel  and  striking  landscape 
— the  deep  waters  of  the  sea  rolling  at  their  base  with  a  full  and  heavy  swell. 


V. 

NEAR  Fair  Head  is  a  singular  fissure  in  the  face  of  the  precipice,  called  Fhir  Leith, 
or  the  GRAY  MAN'S  PATH.  The  entrance  to  the  pass  at  the  top  is  extremely  nar- 
row ;  and  a  joint  of  green-stone,  which  has  fallen  across  it,  forms  a  sort  of  natural 
gate,  through  which  the  bold  inquirer  must  descend,  and  which  conducts  to  a  gra- 
dually expanding  passage  leading  to  the  base.  There  are  said  to  be  one  or  two 
similar  chasms  along  the  summit,  which  have  frequently  proved  fatal  to  cattle  pas- 
turing upon  the  headland.  These  clifts  suggest  the  probability  of  accidents  of  a 
more  serious  kind,  and  in  the  Dublin  Penny  Journal,  (the  best  conducted  and  most 
valuable  work  of  its  kind  in  Great  Britain,)  I  find  the  following  anecdotes  relative 
to  accidents  in  this  neighbourhood.  "  From  the  Aird  Snout,  a  man,  named  J.  Rane, 
tumbled  down  while  engaged  in  searching  for  fossil-coal,  during  a  severe  winter ; 
and,  strange  to  say,  was  taken  up  alive,  although  seriously  injured  by  the  fall. 


VOL.  I. 


38  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

Another  man,  named  Adam  Morning,  when  descending  a  giddy  path  that  leads  to  the 
foot  of  Port-na-Spania,  with  his  wife's  breakfast,  who  was  at  the  time  employed  in 
making  kelp,  missed  his  footing,  and  tumbling  headlong,  was  dashed  to  atoms  ere  he 
reached  the  bottom.     The  poor  woman  witnessed  the  misfortune  from  a  distance  ; 
but  supposing,  from  the  kind  of  coat  he  wore,  that  it  had  been  one  of  the  sheep 
that  had  been  grazing  on  the  headland,  she  went  to  examine  it,  when  she  found  instead, 
the  mangled  corpse  of  her  husband."     Another  story  is  told  of  a  poor  girl,  who, 
being  betrothed  to  one  she  loved,  in  order  to  furnish  herself  and  her  intended  hus- 
band with  some  of  the  little  comforts  of  life,  procured  employment  on  the  shore,  in 
the  manufacture  alluded  to,  with  some  other  persons  in  the  neighbourhood.     Port- 
na-Spania,  as  will  be  observed,  is  completely  surrounded  by  a  tremendous  precipice 
from  three  to  four  hundred  feet  high,  and  is  only  accessible  by  a  narrow  pathway, 
by  far  the  most  difficult  and  dangerous  of  any  of  those  nearly  perpendicular  ascents 
to  be  met  with  along  the  entire  coast.    Up  this  frightful  foot-way  was  this  poor  girl, 
in  common  with  all  who  were  engaged  in  the  same  manufacture,  obliged  to  climb, 
heavily  laden  with  a  burden  of  the  kelp  ;  and,  having  gained  the  steepest  point  of 
the  peak,  was  just  about  to  place  her  foot  on  the  summit,  when,  in  consequence  of 
the  load  on  her  shoulders  shifting  a   little  to  one  side,  she  lost  her  balance,  fell 
backwards,  and  ere  she  reached  the  bottom,  was  a  lifeless  and  mangled  corpse.    To 
behold  women  and  children  toiling  up  this  dreadful  ascent,  bearing  heavy  loads, 
either  on  their  heads  or  fastened  from  their  necks  and  shoulders,  is  really  painful, 
even  to  the  least  sensitive,  unaccustomed  to  the  sight — and  yet  the  natives  them- 
selves appear  to  think  nothing  whatever  of  it. 

An  anecdote  is  also  related  of  a  man  who  was  in  the  habit  of  seating  himself  on 
the  edge  of  a  cliff  which  overhung  its  base,  at  Poortmoor,  to  enjoy  the  beauty  of 
the  widely-extended  scene.  One  fine  summer  morning,  however,  having  gained  the 
height,  and  taken  his  accustomed  seat,  while  indulging  in  the  thoughts  and  feelings 
which  we  may  suppose  the  scene  likely  to  inspire,  "a  change  came  o'er  the  spirit  of 
his  dream" — the  rock  upon  which  he  was  perched  gave  way,  and,  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  bore  him  on  "  its  rapid  wing"  to  the  foot  of  a  precipice,  where  it  sunk 
several  feet  into  the  earth — safely  depositing  its  ambitious  bestrider  on  the  shore, 
at  a  distance  of  fully  four  hundred  feet  from  the  towering  eminence  off  which  he 
had  made  his  involuntary  aerial  descent. 

The  shore  in  this  neighbourhood  is  beautifully  indented  with  coves,  made  partly 
by  the  action  of  the  sea,  and  partly  by  the  wear  of  the  mountain-torrents.  One  of 
these  forms  a  beautiful  fall,  called  THE  LEAP,  which  in  rainy  seasons  is  an  object 
of  great  beauty.  Night  closed  upon  us  as  we  entered  Ballycastle,  and  we  were 
happy  to  find  ourselves  at  another  comfortable  inn,  and  within  a  two  hours'  drive 
of  the  Causeway.  This  little  town  possesses  a  very  strong  interest  for  the  his- 


™ 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  3D 

torian  an.;  nan,  as  well  as  the  gcol  >gist  and  traveller.  The  collieries  of  Bally- 

castle  bav'  IHI  '  periods,  occupied   the  attention  of  speculators;  and  it  is 

confidently  bf'ieved  the,    will  -.nil    pn<v    a   -^niro    of  wealth   t«   Ireland.      But  :i 

more  than -'ordinary  interest  is  attached  t-.  (hcni  from  a  discovery  made  ub  mi 

seventy  years  ago  by.the  miners  employ. -4  ;n  t  Mr.  Hamilton,  in  hi.*  Lei 

ters  oft  the  Antrim  Coast,  says,  that  ah. 

pushing  forward   an  ndit  .towards-  t!ie 

Ballycastle  cliff,-they  unexpectedly  1 

so  much  contracted  and  choked  u|>  • 

and  bottom, 'as  to  render  it  i:u;   >*--.iM" 

they  might  examine  it  liirther. 

candles,  fof  the  purpose  of  exj«i. 

proceeded  for-a  considerable  \-.n\i\ 

entered  into  an  extensive   l.i! 

mazes- and  windings  of  which   t 

various  vain  attempts  (<>  return,  ffveu 

lioars'e  and  exhausted  with  Iro-ju 

fatifrued^ they  sat  down  togethffe  in 

alarnred  for  their  satety.  used  ' 

at  length,  it  oxicurrod  to  one  t>t   i 

haiumer-against  a  stonn  would  be 

which- artifite  succeeded  in  direotuii 

adventurei-STWCTc  sealed   in  depi»iml.- 

light  of  the  8nn,  after  an  absi  ucc 
Thirty-six  chambers  were  disn 

ha  •  haskets  and  inininu'-i'i't"'  • 

ginal  miner's  knowledge  and  <-xp-'i' 

No  tradition  remain^  in  the  countr\  ul  t" 

trv.  "iif  -'M  \vi.nks  ct  aiitiqtnt;   av  •. 

in  ti  '••    tlii-   l; -•!).(  ;•        Hoi    • 

satib'  -fi  !<y  ti1"  wvif-        t'  :,\     ..• 

voui  :i,  that  th.-..-  .  ls  derivf.j 

'inrthic  •'       Brnct  s  .u^iiery,  ap- 

luiw,  whicn 

.^1  -.,  i,,.  a  J>ear  •»  strong  resemblance 

,v.  iK.-.  '  all  pr6b:ibUity,  were  brought 

.     :<.  i  .a  t;tneraL  use,  and  this 

•  *  , 
i.  ;!v.-.a?tk',  on  .ft  narrow,  peninsula, 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  3'J 

torian  and  antiquarian,  as  well  as  the  geologist  and  traveller.  The  collieries  of  Bally- 
castle  have,  at  different  periods,  occupied  the  attention  of  speculators ;  and  it  is 
confidently  believed  they  will  still  prove  a  source  of  wealth  to  Ireland.  But  n 
more  than  ordinary  interest  is  attached  to  them  from  a  discovery  made  about 
seventy  years  ago  by  the  miners  employed  in  the  works.  Mr.  Hamilton,  in  his  Let- 
ters on  the  Antrim  Coast,  says,  that  about  the  year  1770,  while  the  miners  were 
pushing  forward  an  adit  towards  the  bed  of  coal  in  an  unexplored  part  of  the 
Ballycastle  cliff,  they  unexpectedly  broke  through  the  rock  into  a  narrow  passage, 
so  much  contracted  and  choked  up  with  various  drippings  and  deposits  on  its  side 
and  bottom,  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  any  of  the  workmen  to  force  through  that 
they  might  examine  it  further.  Two  lads  were  therefore  made  to  creep  in  with 
candles,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  this  subterraneous  avenue,  they  accordingly 
proceeded  for  a  considerable  time,  with  much  labour  and  difficulty,  and  at  length 
entered  into  an  extensive  labyrinth,  diverging  into  numerous  apartments,  in  the 
mazes  and  windings  of  which  they  were  completely  bewildered  and  lost.  After 
various  vain  attempts  to  return,  their  lights  were  extinguished,  their  voices  became 
hoarse  and  exhausted  with  frequent  shouting ;  at  length,  becoming  completely 
fatigued,  they  sat  down  together  in  utter  despair.  Meanwhile  their  friends  without, 
alarmed  for  their  safety,  used  equal  exertions  to  indicate  their  presence,  but  in  vain  ; 
at  length,  it  occurred  to  one  of  the  subterranean  wanderers,  that  the  sound  of  his 
hammer  against  a  stone  would  be  better  heard  than  the  sound  of  a  human  voice, 
which  artifice  succeeded  in  directing  their  friends  to  the  place  where  the  two  young 
adventurers  were  seated  in  despondence,  and  so  ultimately  restored  them  to  the 
light  of  the  sun,  after  an  absence  of  twelve  hours. 

Thirty-six  chambers  were  discovered  here,  all  trimmed  and  dressed  by  excellent 
hands ;  also  baskets  and  mining-instruments,  and  other  demonstrations  of  the  ori- 
ginal miner's  knowledge  and  expertness  in  the  art,  equal  to  that  of  the  present  age. 
No  tradition  remains  in  the  country  of  the  working  of  this  mine  ;  and  the  peasan- 
try, who  attribute  all  works  of  antiquity  in  this  kingdom  to  the  Danes  or  the  giants, 
in  this  instance  prefer  the  former.  But  this  conclusion  is  erroneous,  as  is  very 
satisfactorily  proved  by  the  writer  of  the  above  extract.  Another  argument  in  fa- 
vour of  the  supposition,  that  these  collieries  were  wrought  anciently,  is  derived 
from  this  curious  circumstance.  Bruce's  Castle,  on  the  Island  of  Raghery,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  built  with  lime,  which  had  been  burned  with  sea-coal,  some 
cinders  of  which  may  still  be  detected  in  the  mortar,  and  bear  a  strong  resemblance 
to  those  of  Ballycastle  coals.  Now  these  coals,  in  all  probability,  were  brought 
from  Ballycastle ;  for  the  English  collieries  were  not  then  in  general  use,  and  this 
was  more  than  five  centuries  ago. 

About  two  miles  north-west  of  the  town  of  Ballycastle,  on  a  narrow  peninsula, 


40  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

composed  of  white  limestone,  which  projects  its  perpendicular  front  into  the  sea, 
are  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  CASTLE  OF  KENBAAN,  or  the  White  Promontory — a 
name  derived  from  that  of  the  precipitous  cliff  on  which  it  stands. 

At  present  little  remains  of  this  building  except  a  part  of  the  massy  walls  of  the 
tower  or  keep,  which,  from  its  bold  and  romantic  situation,  adds  not  a  little  to  the 
beauty  of  the  scenery  of  this  wonderful  coast.  During  summer,  it  is  often  fre- 
quented by  parties,  and  the  scene  of  many  a  festive  collation ;  where  instead  of 
the  grim  warder  pacing  at  its  gate,  are  seen  inside  the  portal  the  "  fairest,  of  the 
fair." 

Tradition  states,  this  building  to  have  been  erected  by  the  Irish  sept  of  M'Hen- 
drie  ;  but  as  its  scanty  ruins  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  those  castles  reared  by 
the  first  English  settlers  on  the  coast  from  the  Eoyne  to  the  Bann,  we  think  its 
erection  may,  with  greater  probability,  be  ascribed  to  them,  or,  if  it  be  an  Irish 
castle,  it  is  at  least  erected  on  the  plan  of  those  of  the  adventurers. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  about  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  we  find 
it  held  by  the  Scottish  clan'  of  M'Alister,  who  arrived  in  Ireland  with  the  M'Don- 
nells  from  Cantyre.  In  1568,  the  M'Alisters  entered  into  a  conspiracy  against  the 
English  quartered  in  those  parts,  and  in  an  encounter  which  took  place,  two  English 
horsemen  were  slain ;  and  soon  after  "  Rannel  Oge  M'Alister  Caraghe,"  chief  of 
the  M'Alister,  \vas  killed  in  revenge,  by  some  English  soldiers.  On  this  commo- 
tion, Captain  William  Piers,  governor  of  Carrickfergus,  and  seneschal  of  the 
county  of  Antrim,  proceeded  with  some  troops  to  the  Glynns,  where  he  made  three 
of  the  M'Alisters  prisoners,  one  of  whom  he  hung  in  chains  ;  and  Alexander,  chief 
of  that  sept,  making  his  submission  about  this  time,  the  M'Alisters  sunk  beneath 
the  English  power.  Many  of  this  name  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  Glynns. 

We  were  up  with  the  lark  on  the  morning  that  we  left  Ballycastle  for  the  Cause- 
way, but  our  attentive  host  had  anticipated  us,  and  our  breakfast  was  smoking  before 
a  brilliant  turf-fire.  Dawn  was  just  creeping  into  a  sky  fortunately  clear,  as  we 
flourished  away,  Irish  fashion,  from  the  inn-door,  and  broad  daylight  found  us  near 
the  far-famed  CARRICK-A-!IEDE.  The  new  road  runs  close  to  this  singular  chasm, 
and  we  had  no  difficulties  to  contend  with,  but  the  mud  and  water  with  which 
the  wet  season  had  covered  the  whole  country.  The  "  flying-bridge,"  as  it  is  called, 
is  removed  during  the  winter,  but  the  scenery  of  the  spot,  in  other  respects,  is  not 
susceptible  of  change,  as  there  is  not  a  tree  within  sight,  and  the  grass  on  the 
summit  is  as  bright  in  winter  as  in  spring.  Carrick-a-Rede  signifies  the  rock  in  the 
road,  and  it  is  so  called  because  it  interrupts  the  salmon  in  their  passage  along  the 
coast.  The  rock  is  an  insulated  crag  of  rudely  prismatic  basalt,  connected  with 
the  main-land  by  a  bridge  of  ropes,  thrown  across  a  chasm,  sixty  feet  in  breadth  and 
eighty-four  in  depth.  This  flying-bridge  which  is  not  unlike  the  connecting-bridge 


in  which  it. 


I 

ry — a 

ifi*«y. walls  of  the 
..ut  u  little  to  the 
1 '  it  .is  •  often  fre- 
»;here  instead  of 
«  *'  fairest  of  the 

»eptof  M'Hen- 
safeties  reared  by 
v,  i-  think  its 
if  it  be  an  Irish 

lizabeth,  we  find 

with  the  M'JDon- 

-true'y  against  the 

lace.-t»'n  English 

tKfflghe,'"  chief  of 

<»»i   lh:s  coaiUQO- 

,  ,.r,v: '•-.[   of  the 

.Tt  hi-  iiidtle  three 

Alexander,  chief 

•  rs  .sunk  heneath 

ir  lor  the  Cause* 

-  smoking  before 

r,  as  we 
iouiid  us  ni'ur 
.fular  chasnj, 
aier  with  v, 
e,"  as  it 
r  respei. 
t!i 


? 

s   1 

1  ; 

o 


hrtween  HolyhtwJ  Mountain  un<l 

of  the  chasm,  and  the  narro*  >n 
way.    The  danger  in  crossii^ 
upon  the  board,  which,  of  r- » 
•.ipitate.s  the  unguarded  ami 
M<n&  accustomed  to  \\.ilk  u!i>n;. 
*-+>y*  attached  to  the  li.-iji-iv,  • 
i.iiiu'M.  Mid  aynaivnl  eiwr.      f 


This  fisher 
The  only  ., 
and  they  r> 


and  lofty  rock,  elevauni  ri 
with  the  ruins  of  the  CASTLE 
the  seat  of  llic   family  of  O 
Mr.  M'Skiroiuin,   the  distin; 
learning  in  an  essay  in  the  U 
that  Dunsevc-u-fc  :«  tJ,;-.  un- 
seat of  sue<  ^-t*-          -i   >  •  i 
.lonely  reu.ri«(.:  <•;    -,  »toijeruro 
"  keep"  is  the  only  i  srt  -.har 


'.op, 

VOI 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  41 

between  Holy  head  Mountain  and  the  South  Stack,  is  thus  formed ; — two  strong  cables, 
parallel  to  each  other,  are  fastened  to  rings  inserted  in  the  solid  rock,  on  each  side 
of  the  chasm,  and  the  narrow  interval  of  the  ropes  is  occupied  by  a  boarded  path- 
way. The  danger  in  crossing  is  attributable  to  an  irregularity  in  planting  the  foot 
upon  the  board,  which,  of  course,  recoils  against  the  impression  too  soon,  and  pre- 
cipitates the  unguarded  and  courageous  venturer  into  the  deep  chasm  below.  Per- 
sons accustomed  to  walk  along  planks  may  safely  venture  over,  and  the  women  and 
boys  attached  to  the  fishery,  carry  great  loads  across  with  the  utmost  contempt  of 
danger,  and  apparent  ease.  It  should  be  remarked,  that  the  Island  of  Carrick-a- 
Rede  is  of  nearly  equal  elevation  with  the  main  land,  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
In  the  cliffs,  near  the  island,  is  a  very  beautiful  cave,  about  thirty  feet  in  height, 
formed  entirely  of  columnar  basalt,  of  which  the  bases  appear  to  have  been  re- 
moved, so  that  the  unsupported  polygonal  columns  compose  the  cave. 

The  chief  use  of  this  insulated  rock  appears  to  be  that  of  interrupting  the  sal- 
mon, who  annually  coast  along  the  shore  in  search  of  rivers  in  which  to  deposit  their 
spawn.  Their  passage  is  generally  made  close  to  the  shore,  so  that  Carrick-a-Rede 
is  very  opportunely  situated  for  projecting  the  interrupting  nets.  It  will  lie  here 
inquired,  why  the  fishermen  do  not  spare  themselves  the  trouble  of  throwing  across 
this  very  dangerous  bridge,  and  approach  the  island  by  water ;  but  this  is  perfectly 
impracticable,  owing  to  the  extreme  perpendicularity  of  the  basaltic  cliff's  on  every 
side,  except  in  one  small  bay,  which  is  not  accessible  but  at  particular  periods. 
This  fishery,  and,  indeed,  all  those  along  the  northern  coast,  are  very  productive. 
The  only  residents  in  the  little  cottage  on  the  island  are  the  clerk  and  fishermen, 
and  they  remain  only  during  the  summer  months.  The  fishermen  are  paid,  and  all 
the  expenses  of  fishing  defrayed,  by  proportionate  allowances  of  salmon. 

About  three  miles  east  of  the  Giant's  Causeway  we  came  in  sight  of  a  detached 
and  lofty  rock,  elevating  its  head  near  the  centre  of  a  small  bay,  and  crowned 
with  the  ruins  of  the  CASTLE  OF  DUNSEVERICK:.  This  picturesque  spot  was  once 
the  seat  of  the  family  of  O'Cahan,  or  as  they  were  commonly  called,  O'Kane. 
Mr.  M'Skimmin,  the  distinguished  antiquarian  of  Carrickfergus,  displays  great 
learning  in  an  essay  in  the  Dublin  Penny  Journal,  the  object  of  which  is  to  prove 
that  Dunseverick  is  the  ancient  and  celebrated  Dun  Sooarke  of  Irish  history — the 
seat  of  successive  chieftains  and  powerful  families  of  the  north.  It  is  at  present  a 
lonely  remnant  of  a  structure,  and  though  traces  of  the  outworks  are  visible,  the 
"  keep"  is  the  only  part- that  is  still  erect,  and  this  too,  from  its  appearance,  will 
soon  be  as  prostrate  as  the  rest.  Immense  masses  of  the  rock  have  been  hewn  away, 
evidently  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  the  castle  as  inaccessible  as  possible.  An 
enormous  basaltic  rock,  south  of  the  entrance,  also  appears  to  have  been  cut  of  a 
pyramidal  form,  and  flattened  on  the  top,  perhaps  as  a  station  for  a  warder,  or  for 

VOL.  i.  M 


42  SCENERY    OF   IRELAND. 

the  purpose  of  placing  upon  it  some  engine  of  defence.  That  the  insulated  rock 
on  which  the  castle  is  placed,  should,  from  its  peculiar  strength,  have  been  selected 
by  the  early  settlers  in  Ireland  as  a  proper  situation  for  one  of  their  strongholds  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at ;  but  of  that  original  fortress,  M'Skimmin  remarks,  there  are  no 
remains.  The  present  ruin,  though  of  great  strength,  the  walls  being  eleven  feet 
in  thickness,  is  evidently  of  an  age  not  anterior  to  the  English  invasion,  and  most 
probably  erected  by  the  M'Quillans,  but  the  annals  of  the  time  are  silent  as  to  the 
period  of  its  re-edification. 

In  all  the  views  between  Ballycastle  and  Dunluce,  the  Island  of  Rathlin,  (or 
Rathkerry,)  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  features,  stretching  its  length  along  the 
shore  within  six  miles  of  the  cliffs,  and  backed  by  the  misty  tops  of  the  far-seen 
Scotch  coast.  The  island  is  the  property  of  Mr.  Gage,  who  holds  it  by  a  lease  in 
perpetuity  under  the  Countess  of  Antrim.  This  gentleman  is  completely  lord  of 
the  isle,  and  banishes  his  subjects  to  the  continent  of  Ireland  for  misconduct 
or  repeated  offences  against  his  laws.  Raghery  is  about  five  English  miles  in 
length  by  three  and  a  half  in  breadth.  It  contains  about  two  thousand  acres, 
one  quarter  of  which  grows  corn,  &c.  There  are  three  town-lands,  called  Shandra, 
Alia,  and  Knockard,  upon  which  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants,  generally  about 
one  thousand,  reside.  It  appears  from  a  late  census  that  its  population  is  not  in- 
creasing, and  varies  very  little.  There  are  two  places  of  worship  here,  a  Protestant 
church  and  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel. 

The  extreme  western  end  of  the  island  is  called  Keuramer,  and  is  three  hundred 
and  fifty-two  feet  above  the  ocean.  Formerly  distinctions  existed  between  the  in- 
habitants of  each  end  of  the  island,  and  the  qualifications  of  each  were  looked 
upon  as  totally  dissimilar.  This,  however,  is  not  quite  done  away. 

Near  Ushet,  at  a  place  called  Doon  Point,  the  disposition  of  the  basaltic  columns 
is  very  remarkable,  some  being  perpendicular,  others  horizontal,  others  carved. 
The  base  of  this  little  promontory  is  a  natural  pier  or  mole.  Above  this  is  a  col- 
lection of  columns  of  a  curved  form,  apparently  assumed  in  conformity  with  the 
surface  on  which  they  rest,  and  inducing  a  belief  that  they  were  so  moulded  when 
in  a  state  of  softness ;  and  above  both  these  arrangements,  there  is  a  variety  of  dif- 
ferently disposed  columns,  partaking  of  every  position  in  which  basalt  has  been 
discovered  in  other  places.  The  form  of  Raghery  Island  is  that  of  a  right-angle, 
whose  sides  or  legs  are  Kenramer  and  Ushet  Points.  On  the  external  vertex  of 
the  right-angle  stands  Brace's  Castle.  In  the  early  ages  of  Irish  history,  the 
proximity  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  invited  mutual  predatory  expeditions,  to  which 
it  is  said  the  Scotch  were  more  addicted  than  the  Irish.  In  these  occasional  partial 
invasions  the  island  of  Raghery  was  found  very  useful,  both  as  a  depot  and  place 
of  retreat.  During  the  civil  wars  which  devastated  Scotland,  between  Robert 


forrifj-  :  eJ  tg  !   ty.  >r\ 


.r 

: .  besides,  in,  all  prc>L/a 
.tr    wkich  induced  tbr 


which  u!1  travc-llew  C->iup) 

saw  d  rk  tiiiures  nsiny  n;1 
with  every  ap|HiarTit>co  oi 


which  we  got  i?«t  fcwt  view  *f  'I 
to   distinguish  any  pqcuiuriiy 


nl  tiij  be  ,jL>«t»')i 

•     •, 

rVnV.V     ••' 


SCENERY    OP   IRELAND.  43 

Bruce  and  Baliol,  the  former  fled  to  Raghery  for  shelter ;  and  fortifying  himself  in 
the  castle  which  now  bears  his  name,  made  a  bold  and  successful  resistance  to  his 
enemies.  The  short  time  which  Bruce  remained  upon  the  island,  may  be  very 
fairly  assigned  as  a  reason  for  his  not  having  been  the  founder  or  builder  of  the 
castle;  besides,  in  all  probability,  it  was  the  existence  of  this  fortified  place  or 
Raghery  which  induced  the  exiled  king  to  fly  thither  for  shelter. 


VI. 

AFTER  passing  Dunseverick  Castle,  the  road  turns  away  from  the  shore,  and 
makes  nearly  straight  for  the  Causeway,  leaving  the  promontory  of  Bangore  Head 
far  on  the  right.  We  were  looking  out  anxiously  for  the  Causeway ;  but  even 
when  within  half-a-mile  of  it,  the  other  headlands  looked  more  attractive  than  the 
low  line  of  the  shore  pointed  out  to  us  by  the  driver,  and  after  seeing  Fair  Head, 
the  whole  of  this  shore  might  be  passed  by  the  undirected  traveller,  without  sus- 
picion of  the  neighbourhood  of  wonders  equal  to  those  he  had  left  behind.  We 
stopped  at  the  door  of  a  low  hut  at  last,  and  a  very  well-dressed  and  intelligent- 
looking  man  made  his  appearance  from  the  smoke,  and  offered  his  services  as  a 
guide.  From  the  season  in  which  we  travelled,  as  well  as  from  the  early  hour  at 
which  we  arrived,  we  missed  the  throngs  of  beggars,  guides,  and  mineral-sellers  of 
which  all  travellers  complain  ;  but  as  we  started  on  the  path  to  the  Causeway,  we 
saw  dark  figures  rising  up  in  all  directions,  and  radiating  to  us  from  a  mile  around, 
with  every  appearance  of  haste  and  expectation.  The  guide  led  us  down  a  slip- 
pery and  stony  road,  cut  in  the  side  of  the  hill  which  concealed  the  Causeway  from 
our  view,  and,  rounding  the  shoulder  of  it,  we  descended  to  a  small  mound,  from 
which  we  got  our  first  view  of  THE  CAUSEWAY.  We  were  at  too  great  a  distance 
to  distinguish  any  peculiarity  in  the  view,  except  the  lines  of  the  basaltic  pil- 
lars, indistinctly  marking  the  face  of  the  cliff,  and  I  was  naturally  disappointed 
with  the  first  glance — but  as  we  descended  to  the  shore,  and  approached  nearer 
around  the  bend  of  the  bay,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  ruins  of  some  templed  and 
gigantic  city,  that  had  been  hurled  from  the  sky,  were  heaped  up  before  me  in  a 
mountain  of  confused  architecture.  The  Giant's  Causeway,  indeed,  resembles 
nothing  so  much  as  a  mountain  of  hewn  stones — frusta  of  noble  columns,  remnants 
of  vast  porticoes,  cast  down  from  a  height  into  the  sea.  The  upright  and  regular 


44  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

pillars  in  the  face  of  the  cliff,  give  you  an  impression  that  there  is  a  city  over- 
whelmed and  buried  behind  them,  and  the  disintered  Pompeii  itself  was  not  so  like 
as  this  to  the  idea  I  had  formed  of  Pompeii  before  visiting  Italy. 

Our  guide  kept  on  his  way  to  the  vast  projecting  quay  which  descends  from  the 
base  of  these  mountain  facades  into  the  sea.  To  borrow  the  very  correct  language 
of  a  clever  tourist,  "  The  principal  or  grand  Causeway,  consists  of  an  irregular  ar- 
rangement of  many  hundred  thousands  of  columns,  formed  of  a  dark  rock  nearly  as 
hard  as  marble.  The  greater  part  of  them  are  of  a  pentagon  figure,  but  so  closely 
compacted  together,  that,  though  the  pillars  are  perfectly  distinct,  the  very  water 
which  falls  upon  them  will  scarcely  penetrate  between.  There  are  some  of  the 
pillars  which  have  seven,  and  a  few  which  have  eight  sides ;  a  few  also  have  four, 
but  only  one  has  been  found  with  three.  Not  one  will  be  found  to  correspond  ex- 
actly with  the  other,  having  sides  and  angles  of  the  same  dimensions ;  while  at  the 
same  time  the  sum  of  the  angles  of  any  one  of  them  are  found  to  be  equal  to  four 
right-angles— the  sides  of  one  corresponding  exactly  to  those  of  the  others  which 
lie  next  to  it,  although  otherwise  differing  completely  in  size  and  form.  Each  pil- 
lar is  formed  of  several  distinct  joints,  closely  articulated  into  each  other,  the  con- 
vex end  of  the  one  closely  fitting  into  the  concave  of  the  next — sometimes  the 
concavity,  sometimes  the  convexity  being  uppermost.  In  the  entire  Causeway  it 
is  computed  there  are  from  thirty  thousand  to  forty  thousand  pillars,  the  tallest 
measuring  about  thirty-three  feet.  Among  other  wonders,  there  is  also  the 
Giant's  Well,  a  spring  of  pure  fresh  water,  forcing  its  way  up  between  the  joints 
of  t\vo  of  the  columns — the  Giant's  Chain,  the  Giant's  Bagpipes,  the  Giant's 
Theatre,  and  the  Giant's  Organ,  the  latter  a  beautiful  colonnade  of  pillars,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  so  called  from  its  accurate  resemblance  to  the  pipes 
of  an  organ." 

The  same  tourist  from  whom  I  have  quoted,  gives  an  amusing  account  of  his 
stumbling  upon  a  legendary  explanation  of  the  building  of  the  Causeway.  "  In 
lately  travelling,"  he  says,  "  from  Dublin  to  Belfast,  we  happened  to  enjoy  as 
companions,  a  '  traveller'  for  a  Manchester  firm,  and  a  rough,  ruddy-faced  farmer 
from  the  black  north.  The  conversation  turned  on  the  Causeway.  '  Oh,'  exclaimed 
the  rider,  '  I  was  there  last  spring ;  I  just  looked  at  it  on  my  way  from  Colerain 
to  Ballycastle — never  was  so  disappointed  in  my  life — terrible  cold  coast,  wind  from 
the  north-east  enough  to  cut  you  in  two — dreadful  hungry  place,  I  assure  you,  gen- 
tlemen, not  a  morsel  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  nature,  not  even  a  tree  to  shelter  the 
poor  goats  that  were  glad  to  hide  themselves  under  the  precipices.  Irishmen  should 
come  and  see  our  Giant's  Causeway,  the  railway  !  that's  a  stupendous  work,  gen- 
tlemen ! ' 

"  The  wrath  of  the  man  of  Antrim  was  roused.      '  You  Englishmen,'  said  he, 


tv 


,    I 

N^        <S 


I 


ray  for 'the  hortour  and  $: 


"  Mr,  TruBffelbags 

joim-cl ;  *  And  prny, 


to  brag  that  lif  K"T.I 


had  n<~ 


*id,  '  Look,  t 
«K»kir>2;  in  that 


\       illt't  V     !! 


ii-ha  bpnr,  ii:. 'I 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  45 

'  are  all  for  the  making  of  money.  Why,  man  alive,  if  a  dacent  place  that  I 
know  about  is  paved  with  goold,  some  of  yees  would  be  after  getting  a  pickaxe  to 
pocket  the  paving-stones.  Did'nt  ould  Fin  M'Coul  all  as  one  as  make  that  Cause- 
way for  the  honour  and  glory  of  Ireland  ?  and  what's  the  use  of  talking  about  your 
dirty  bit  of  a  railway.  Sure,  ar'n't  they  going  to  have  one  from  Dublin  to  Dun- 
leary  ?  We'll  bate  the  conceit  out  of  yees  by  and  bye  !  " 

"  Mr.  Trusselbags  adjusted  his  neckcloth,  and,  with  a  knowing  wink  to  me,  re- 
joined ;  '  And  pray,  my  good  fellow,  for  what  purpose  did  this  Fin  M'Coul  make 
the  Causeway  ?  Perhaps  you  can  tell  us.' 

"  '  With  all  my  heart.  You  see,  sir,  a  big  Scotch  giant,  one  Benandonner,  used 
to  brag  that  he  would  lick  Fin  M'Coul  any  day.  And  he  used  to  go  over  the 
Highlands,  crowing  like  a  cock  on  its  own  dunghill,  that  all  he  wanted  was  a  fair 
field  and  no  favour.  So,  by  my  souks,  Fin  M'Coul  went  to  the  King  of  Ireland, 
ould  Cormac,  may  be  ye've  heard  of  him,  (there  was  no  grand-jury  presentments 
in  them  days,)  and  he  says  to  his  majesty,  says  he,  I  want  to  let  Benandonner  come 
over  to  Ireland  without  wetting  the  sole  of  his  shoe,  and  if  I  don't  lather  him  as 
well  as  ever  he  was  lathered  in  his  life,  it's  not  myself  that's  in  it.  So  Fin  M'Coul 
got  leave  to  build  the  Causeway,  and  sure  he  did,  all  the  road  clane  and  nate,  to 
Scotland.  And  Benandonner  came  over  wid  his  broadsword  and  kilt,  and  right 
glad  he  was  to  get  a  dacent  excuse  for  laving  his  own  country.  He  was  bate,  of 
coorse,  though  he  stuck  up  like  a  Trojan;  and  then  he  settled  in  the  place,  and 
became  obedient  to  King  Cormac,  and  got  a  purty,  dacent  girl  to  his  wife,  and  they 
say  the  great  Earls  of  Antrim  are  descended  from  them.' ' 

A  writer  in  one  of  the  numbers  of  the  Christian  Examiner,  gives  an  account  of  a 
curious  phenomenon  observed,  while  rowing  in  a  boat  along  the  Causeway.  "  We 
had  now,"  he  says,  "  got  into  the  centre  of  the  bay,  and  could  observe  the  whole 
bending  of  the  shore  from  Bangore  promontory  to  Portrush  point,  and  while,  as 
was  natural,  our  eyes  were  principally  directed  towards  the  CAUSEWAY,  to  which 
we  were  approaching,  and  asking  concerning  this  place  and  that,  one  of  the  men 
said,  '  Look,  gentlemen,  there  are  the  merry  dancers  on  Portrush  Point ! '  and  on 
looking  in  that  direction  we  all  observed  this  most  extraordinary  phenomenon.  Port- 
rush  Point,  which,  a  few  moments  before  presented  a  very  unmeaning  appearance, 
and  was  certainly  the  least  interesting  object  on  the  coast,  now  assumed  a  most 
commanding  aspect.  A  lofty  mountain  arose  instead  of  a  long  flat — a  conical 
peak  like  Croagh  Patrick,  rugged  rocks  with  their  serrated  points  pierced  the 
clouds  ;  and  instantly  all  this  vanished,  and  a  beautiful  softly-swelling  wooded  hill 
presented  itself,  a  lofty  embattled  castle,  a  broad  belt  of  full-grown  wood,  green 
lawns,  and  all  the  decorations  of  a  nobleman's  domain.  You  might  conceive  your- 
self at  once  transported  to  Plymouth-harbour,  and  that  you  saw  Mount  Edgecombe 

VOL.  I.  N 


46  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

before  you.  And,  again,  as  by  talismanic  touch,  all  this  disappeared,  and  on  a 
plain  two  embattled  armies  seemed  to  oppose  one  another,  and  dense  masses  of 
troops,  horse  and  foot,  stood  motionless  as  if  in  suspense  for  the  battle  signal,  and 
now  they  rushed  together,  and  the  opposing  battalions  closed  on  each  other,  and  a 
loose,  shapeless  cloud  rose  up,  as  if  it  were  the  mingled  dust  and  smoke  ascending 
from  the  conflict ;  and  all  at  once,  the  whole  vision  dissolved  away,  and  nothing 
was  seen  but  the  low,  uninteresting  peninsula  of  Portrush.  I  had  never  before 
heard  of  this  phenomenon  appearing  on  the  coast  of  Ireland.  I  had  read  some- 
thing like  it  as  occurring  in  the  Straits  of  Messina,  and,  on  the  present  occasion, 
particularly  as  taken  by  surprise,  my  astonishment  and  delight  cannot  be  expressed. 
So  vivid  was  the  delusion — so  strange,  so  beautiful,  so  magnificent  was  the  optical 
representation,  that  were  I  in  the  remotest  part  of  Ireland,  and  assured  that  I 
would  see  it  again,  I  should,  without  hesitation,  put  my  foot  in  the  coach,  and,  at 
almost  any  sacrifice  of  time  or  trouble,  attend  to  witness  it  again.  The  boatmea 
assured  me,  it  was  by  no  means  of  frequent  occurrence.  Some  of  them  declared  they 
never  saw  it  before,  and  he  who  was  best  acquainted  with  its  appearance  said,  that 
it  required  a  concurrence  of  wind,  tide,  and  weather  that  did  not  often  coincide  to 
produce  it." 

Proceeding  eastward  toward  the  promontory  of  Bangore,  the  traveller  comes  to 
the  PLEASKIN  CLIFF,  commonly  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful  promontory  in  the 
world.  The  natural  basaltic  rock  here  lies  immediately  under  the  surface.  About 
twelve  feet  from  the  summit,  the  rock  begins  to  assume  a  columnar  tendency,  and 
is  formed  into  ranges  of  rudely  columnar  basalt,  in  a  vertical  position,  exhibiting 
the  appearance  of  a  grand  gallery,  whose  columns  measure  sixty  feet  in  height. 
This  basaltic  colonnade  rests  upon  a  bed  of  coarse,  black,  irregular  rock,  sixty  feet 
thick,  abounding  in  air-holes.  Below  this  coarse  stratum  is  a  second  range  of  pil- 
lars, forty-five  feet  high,  more  accurately  columnar,  and  nearly  as  accurately  formed 
as  the  Causeway  itself.  The  cliff  appears  as  though  it  had  been  painted,  for  effect, 
in  various  shades  of  green,  vermillion  rock,  red-ochre,  grey  lichens,  &c. ;  its  general 
form  so  beautiful,  its  storied  pillars,  tier  over  tier,  so  architecturally  graceful — its 
curious  and  varied  stratifications  supporting  the  columnar  ranges ;  here  the  dark 
brown  amorphous  basalt — there  the  red-ochre,  and  below  that  again  the  slender 
but  distinct  lines  of  wood-coal;  all  the  edges  of  its  different  stratifications  tastefully 
varied,  by  the  hand  of  vegetable  nature,  with  grasses,  ferns,  and  rock-plants — in 
the  various  strata  of  which  it  is  composed,  sublimity  and  beauty  having  been  blen- 
ded together  in  the  most  extraordinary  manner. 

West  of  the  Causeway  lie  one  or  two  very  remarkable  caves,  one  of  them  accessi- 
ble both  by  land  and  sea,  the  other,  the  CAVE  OF  DUNKERRY,  accessible  by  water 
alone.  The  entrance  to  the  latter  assumes  the  appearance  of  a  pointed  arch,  and 


46 

before  y 

plain 

tro' 


ressed. 


!e  to 


" 


SCENERY    OP   IRELAND.  47 

is  remarkably  regular.  The  boatmen  are  singularly  expert  in  entering  these  caves. 
They  bring  the  boat's  head  right  in  front,  and,  watching  the  roll  of  the  wave, 
quickly  ship  their  oars,  and  float  in  majestically  upon  the  smooth  heave  of  the  sea. 
The  depth  of  Dunkerry  Cave  has  not  been  ascertained,  for  the  extremity  is  so  con- 
structed, as  to  render  the  management  of  a  boat  there  impracticable  and  dangerous. 
Besides,  from  the  greasy  character  of  the  sides  of  the  cave,  the  hand  cannot  be 
serviceable  in  forwarding  or  retarding  the  boat.  Along  the  sides  is  a  bordering  of 
marine  plants,  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  of  considerable  breadth.  The  roof 
and  sides  are  clad  over  with  green  conferva,  which  give  a  very  rich  and  beautiful 
effect ;  and  not  the  least  curious  circumstance  connected  with  a  visit  to  this  sub- 
terraneous apartment,  is  the  swelling  of  the  water  within.  It  has  been  frequently 
observed,  that  the  swell  of  the  sea  upon  this  coast  is  at  all  times  heavy,  and  as 
each  successive  wave  rolls  into  the  cave,  the  surface  rises  so  slowly  and  awfully, 
that  a  nervous  person  would  be  apprehensive  of  a  ceaseless  increase  in  the  elevation 
of  the  waters  until  they  reached  the  summit  of  the  cave.  Of  this,  however,  there 
is  not  the  most  distant  cause  of  apprehension,  the  roof  being  sixty  feet  above  high- 
water  mark.  The  roaring  of  the  waves  in  the  interior  is  distinctly  heard,  but  no 
probable  conclusion  can  be  arrived  at  from  this  as  to  the  depth.  It  is  said,  too, 
that  the  inhabitants  of  some  cottages,  a  mile  removed  from  the  shore,  have  their 
slumbers  frequently  interrupted  in  the  winter's  nights  by  the  subterranean  sounds  of 
Dunkerry  Cave.  The  entrance  is  very  striking  and  grand,  being  twenty-six  feet  in 
breadth,  and  enclosed  between  two  natural  walls  of  dark  basalt,  and  the  visitor  en- 
joys a  much  more  perfect  view  of  the  natural  architecture  at  the  entrance,  by  sitting 
in  the  prow  with  his  face  to  the  stern,  as  the  boat  returns. 

Of  the  other  cave,  an  agreeable  writer,  whom  I  have  before  quoted,  says,  "  When 
the  day  is  fine,  and  the  sun  shining  in  all  its  lustre,  it  is  truly  a  grand  and  interest- 
ing sight.  The  sublime  massiveness  of  the  surrounding  rocks — the  curious  stain- 
ings  and  colours  of  the  sides  of  the  roof — the  musical  cadence  of  the  echoes — the 
dark  mysteriousness  of  its  retiring  recesses,  contrasted  with  the  brilliancy  of  all 
without,  and  the  slow,  solemn  heave  of  the  translucent  water,  bearing  idly  on  its 
surface  the  purple  sea-star,  and  revealing,  fathoms-deep  below,  multitudinous  vege- 
tations, covering  its  rocky  bottom.  I  do  not  wonder  that  mythology  had  peopled 
such  caverns  with  naiads,  and  goddesses,  and  tritons,  nor  did  I  cease  to  expect  that 
our  communicative  guide  would  be  able  to  annex  to  such  a  spot  as  this  some  legen- 
dary lore.  At  the  same  time  I  confess  I  did  not  find  him  in  this  instance  quite 
fortunate.  To  be  sure,  he  told  us  how  two  bold  sea-captains,  by  name  Willoughby 
and  Middleton,  not  content  with  witnessing  the  manifold  echoes  of  a  common 
musket,  must  needs  bring  into  this  cavern  a  six-pounder,  and  how,  on  discharging 
it,  an  immense  mass  of  the  roof  fell  in,  whereby  their  lives  were  placed  in  imminent 


48  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

peril.  He  also  told  us  of  a  piper,  who,  one  day,  when  the  tide  was  out,  wandered 
into  the  furthest  recesses,  no  doubt  curious  to  ascertain,  in  these  secret  solitudes, 
the  peculiar  sound  of  his  romantic  instrument.  Engaged  in  the  delights  of  his 
sweet  craft,  he  wandered  on  and  on,  none  could  tell  whither,  for  he  never  came  out ; 
nor  were  there  ever  any  tidings  of  him,  save  that  while  the  people  were  at  prayers 
in  the  church  of  Ballintoy,  and  just  as  the  clerk  was  about  giving  out  the  first 
Psalm,  the  sound  of  bagpipes  was  heard  under-ground,  and  tunes  were  recognized 
rising  up  from  beneath,  which  were  rather  unsuitable  to  the  solemnity  of  the 
place." 


VII. 

A  VISIT  to  the  Causeway  is  rather  a  leg-weary  business,  and  admiration  is  well 
known  to  travellers  in  Italy  to  be  the  most  effective  of  tonics.  On  emerging  from 
the  cave  and  climbing  the  cliff  once  more,  we  were  not  sorry  to  find  our  car-man 
ready  to  take  us  to  Bushmills,  a  mile  distant,  where  we  found  a  most  excellent  inn, 
and  breakfasted  on  salmon,  very  much  to  the  refreshment  of  our  enthusiasm.  The 
day  was  bright  and  summery,  and  in  high  good  spirits  we  mounted  our  car  towards 
noon,  and  took  our  way  to  DUN  LUCE  CASTLE.  It  was  but  a  mile  or  two  from 
Bushmills,  and  before  we  were  well  settled  in  our  seats,  this  finest  of  ruined  castles 
(I  think  the  most  picturesque  ruin  I  ever  saw)  broke  upon  us,  like  an  apparition,  in 
the  road.  Dunluce  stands  on  a  perpendicular  and  insulated  rock,  the  entire  surface 
of  which  is  so  completely  occupied  by  the  edifice,  that  the  external  walls  are  in 
continuation  with  the  perpendicular  sides  of  the  rock.  The  walls  of  the  building 
were  never  very  lofty,  but  from  the  great  area  which  they  enclosed,  contained  a 
considerable  number  of  apartments.  One  small  vaulted  room  is  said  to  be  inha- 
bited by  a  Bonshee,  whose  chief  occupation  is  sweeping  the  floor.  This  story  ori- 
ginates in  the  fact,  that  the  floor  is  at  all  times  as  clean  as  if  it  had  just  then 
been  swept ;  but  this  difficulty  can  be  explained  without  the  introduction  of  Maw 
Roi,  the  fairy,  by  the  fact,  that  the  wind  gains  admittance  through  an  aperture  on 
a  level  with  the  floor,  and  thus  preserves  the  appearance  of  cleanliness  and  freedom 
from  dust,  just  now  described.  In  the  north-eastern  end  is  a  small  room, 
actually  projecting  over  the  sea,  the  rocky  base  having  fallen  away,  and  from  the 
door  of  this  apartment  there  is  a  giddy  view  of  the  sea  beneath.  The  rock  on 


c.«y, 

f"   •-  ->c  secret  solitudes, 

-...- 

for  lie  never  cam> 
*>••••{«•  the  people  were  at  pi 
L»  .about  giving  out  the  first 
n-t,  and  tunes  were  recogt: 
'>:•;  to  the  solemnity  of  the 


.jinitioii  is  well 


•  nthn-i.tvi..     The 

«ur-,car  towards 

>  niili:  or  two  from 

»f  ruined  cnsties 

.  rtion,  in 

,  -ihc  rjitire  surface 

crnhi   walls  are  in 

i  s  of  the  building 

l-'ved,  contained  a 

»*>•  uid  to  be  inha- 

'1  orj- 

.it  had  just  then 

:oth     of  Maw 


Rrn   <  .   small   ; 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  49 

which  the  castle  stands  is  not  surrounded  by  water,  but  is  united  at  the  bottom  of  the 
chasm  to  the  main  land  by  a  ledge  of  rock  a  little  higher  than  the  surface  of  the 
ocean.  The  castle  was  entered  by  a  bridge  formed  in  the  following  manner  : — two 
parallel  walls,  about  eight  feet  asunder,  thrown  across  the  chasm,  connected  the 
rock  with  the  main  land.  Upon  these  planks  were  laid  crosswise  for  the  admission 
of  visitors,  and  removed  immediately  after  the  passage  was  effected.  At  present 
but  one  of  the  walls  remains,  about  thirteen  inches  in  thickness,  and  the  only  path- 
way to  the  castle  is  along  its  summit,  over  the  awful  rocky  chasm.  The  distance 
at  which  the  other  parallel  wall  was  placed  may  be  perceived  by  the  traces  of  its 
adhesion  to  the  opposite  rock. 

On  the  main  land,  close  to  the  castle,  a  second  collection  of  similar  buildings  are 
seen,  erected  at  a  later  period  by  one  of  the  Antrim  family,  in  consequence  of  the 
giving  way  of  an  apartment  on  the  verge  of  the  rock.  Beneath  the  cliff  on  which 
the  castle  stands,  is  a  cave  penetrating  completely  through  from  the  sea  to  the 
rocky  basin  on  the  land-side  of  the  castle.  It  may  be  entered  by  a  small  aperture 
in  the  south  end,  and  at  low-water  there  is  a  good  deal  of  the  flooring  un- 
covered, which  consists  of  large  round  stones ;  this  form  is  the  consequence  of  the 
action  of  the  waves.  The  sides  and  roof  are  of  basalt,  possessing  merely  the 
usual  characters ;  here  also  is  a  very  remarkable  echo  when  the  surface  of  the 
water  is  unruffled. 

Though  all  accurate  knowledge  of  the  date  of  erection,  and  name  of  the  foun- 
der of  Dunluce  Castle  are  completely  lost,  yet  the  history  of  its  proprietors  for  the 
last  few  centuries  is  extremely  interesting,  and  affords  a  very  characteristic  account 
of  the  state  of  society  in  the  feudal  periods  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 
It  has  been  conjectured  that  De  Courcy,  Earl  of  Ulster,  originally  founded  this 
castle,  but  the  architecture  is  not  of  so  very  ancient  a  date.  In  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury it  was  held  by  the  English  ;  at  which  period  it  seems  to  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  a  noble  English  family,  called  by  Camden,  M'Willis,  from  whose  hands 
it  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  M'Donalds  of  the  Isles,  and  to  their  descend- 
ants it  belongs  to  this  day. 

About  the  year  1580,  Colonel  M'Donald,  brother  to  James,  Lord  of  Cantyre, 
came  into  Ireland  with  a  band  of  men  to  assist  Tyrconnell  against  the  great  O'Neill, 
with  whom  he  was  then  at  war.  In  passing  through  the  Rout,  he  was  hospitably 
received  and  entertained  by  M'Quillan,  the  lord  and  master  of  the  Rout  and  Kil- 
conery.  At  that  time  there  was  a  war  between  M'Quillan  and  the  men  of  Killiteragh 
beyond  the  Bann.  On  the  day  when  Colonel  M'Donald  was  taking  his  departure 
to  proceed  on  his  journey  to  Tyrconnell,  M'Quillan,  who  was  not  equal  in  war  to 
his  savage  neighbours,  called  together  his  militia,  or  gallogloghs,  to  revenge  his 
affronts  over  the  Bann ;  and  M'Donald,  thinking  it  uncivil  not  to  offer  his  services 

VOL.  i.  o 


50  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

that  day  to  M'Quillan,  after  being  so  kindly  treated,  sent  one  of  his  gentlemen 
with  an  offer  of  assistance  in  the  field.  M'Quillan  was  well  pleased  with  the  offer, 
and  declared  it  to  be  a  perpetual  obligation  on  him  and  his  posterity.  So  M'Quil- 
lan  and  the  Highlanders  went  against  the  enemy  ;  and  where  there  was  a  cow  taken 
from  M'Quillan's  people  before,  there  were  two  taken  back ;  after  which  M'Quillan 
and  Colonel  M'Donald  returned  with  great  prey,  and  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 

Winter  then  drawing  nigh,  M'Quillan  gave  Colonel  M'Donald  an  invitation  to 
stay  with  him  at  his  castle  of  Dunluce,  advising  him  to  settle  there  until  the  spring, 
and  to  quarter  his  men  up  and  down  the  Rout.  This  M'Donald  gladly  accepted  ; 
but  in  the  course  of  the  winter  seduced  M'Quillan's  daughter,  and  privately  married 
her ;  upon  which  ground  the  M'Donalds  afterwards  founded  their  claim  to  the 
M'Quillan's  territories.  The  men  were  quartered  two  and  two  throughout  the  Rout; 
that  is  to  say,  one  of  M'Quillan's  gallogloghs  and  a  Highlander  in  every  tenant's 
house.  It  so  happened  that  the  galloglogh,  besides  his  ordinary  mess,  was  entitled  to 
a  noggin  of  milk  as  a  privilege.  This  the  Highlanders  esteemed  to  be  a  great 
affront,  and  at  last  one  of  them  asked  his  landlord,  "  Why  don't  you  give  me  milk 
as  you  give  the  other  ?  "  The  galloglogh  immediately  made  answer,  "  Would  you, 
a  Highland  beggar  as  you  are,  compare  yourself  to  me  or  any  of  M'Quillan'o 
gallogloghs  ?"  The  poor  tenant,  heartily  tired  of  both,  said,  "  Come,  gentlemen, 
I'll  open  the  door,  and  you  may  go  and  fight  it  out  in  the  field,  and  he  that  has 
the  victory  let  him  take  milk  and  all  to  himself."  The  galloglogh  was  soon  slain 
in  the  encounter,  after  which  the  Highlander  came  in  and  dined  heartily.  M'Quil- 
lan's gallogloghs  assembled  to  demand  satisfaction ;  and,  in  a  council  which  was 
held,  where  the  conduct  of  the  Scots  was  debated,  their  great  power,  and  the  dis- 
grace arising  from  the  seduction  of  M'Quillan 's  daughter,  it  was  agreed  that  each 
galloglogh  should  kill  his  comrade  Highlander  by  night,  and  their  lord  and  mas- 
ter with  them  ;  but  M'Donald's  wife  discovered  the  plot,  and  told  it  to  her  hus- 
band. So  the  Highlanders  fled  in  the  night-time,  and  in  attempting  to  escape 
into  Scotland,  were  driven  into  the  Island  of  Raghery. 

In  1642,  Dunluce  Castle  was  the  scene  of  a  villainous  act  of  treachery.  In  the 
month  of  April  of  that  year,  General  Munroe  made  a  visit  to  the  Earl  of  Antrim  at 
this  castle,  and  was  received  with  many  expressions  of  joy,  and  honoured  with 
splendid  entertainments ;  and  further,  the  earl  offered  him  assistance  of  men  and 
money  to  reduce  the  country  to  tranquillity.  But  Munroe,  when  this  was  over,  seized 
on  the  earl's  person,  and  put  the  other  castles  of  his  lordship  into  the  hands  of  the 
Marquis  of  Argyle's  men.  He  conveyed  the  earl  to  Carrickfergus,  and  imprisoned 
him  in  the  castle,  but  from  this  he  soon  effected  his  escape,  and  withdrew  to 
England. 
There  are,  of  course,  numerous  traditions  connected  with  Dunluce,  but  I  had  not 


SCENERY    OF   IRELAND.  51 

time  to  inquire  them  out  among  the  people,  and  it  has  been  well  done  by  that 
fruit-gathering  traveller,  Cesar  Otway,  whose  description  of  a  visit  to  Dunluce  I 
subjoin. 

"  It  was  as  fine  a  morning  as  ever  fell  from  heaven  when  we  landed  at  Dunluce, 
not  a  cloud  in  the  sky,  not  a  wave  on  the  water;  the  brown  basaltic  rock,  with  the 
towers  of  the  ancient  fortress  that  capped  and  covered  it — all  its  grey  bastions  and 
pointed  gables  lay  pictured  on  the  incumbent  mirror  of  the  ocean  ;  every  thing 
was  reposing — every  thing  so  still,  that  nothing  was  heard  but  the  flash  of  our  oars 
and  the  song  of  Alick  M'Mullen,  to  break  the  silence  of  the  sea.  We  rowed 
round  this  peninsular  fortress,  and  then  entered  the  fine  cavern  that  so  curiously 
perforates  the  rock,  and  opens  its  dark  arch  to  admit  our  boat.  He  must,  indeed, 
have  a  mind  cased  up  in  all  the  common-place  of  dull  existence,  who  would  not 
while  within  this  cavern  and  under  this  fortress,  enter  into  the  associations  con- 
nected with  the  scene ;  who  could  not  hold  communings  with  the  '  Genius  Soci.' 
Fancy  I  know  called  up  for  me  the  war-boats  and  the  foemen,  who,  either  issued 
from,  or  took  shelter  in  this  sea-cave.  I  imagined,  as  the  tide  was  growling  amidst 
the  far  recesses,  that  I  heard  the  meanings  of  chained  captives,  and  the  huge  rocks 
around  must  be  bales  of  plunder,  landed  and  lodged  here,  and  I  took  an  interest, 
and  supposed  myself  a  sharer  in  the  triumphs  of  the  fortunate,  and  the  helpless- 
ness of  the  captive,  while  suffering  under  the  misery  that  bold  bad  men  inflicted 
in  troubled  times,  when  the  M'Quillans  of  the  Rout,  and  the  M'Donnels  of 
the  Glyns,  either  gained  or  lost  this  debateable  strong-hold.  Landing  in  this 
cavern,  we  passed  up  through  its  land  side  entrance  towards  the  ruin :  the  day  had 
become  exceeding  warm,  and  going  forth  from  the  coolness  of  the  cave  into  the 
sultry  atmosphere,  we  felt  doubly  the  force  of  the  sun's  power — the  sea-birds  had 
retreated  to  their  distant  rocks — the  goats  were  panting  under  the  shaded  ledges  of 
the  cliffs — the  rooks  and  chaughs,  with  open  beaks  and  drooping  wings,  were  scat- 
tered over  the  downs,  from  whose  surface  they  arose  with  a  quivering  undulating 
motion ;  we  were  all  glad  for  a  time  to  retire  to  where,  under  the  shade  of  the 
projected  cliff,  a  cold,  clear  spring  offered  its  refreshing  waters. 

"  Reader,  surely  you  cannot  be  at  a  loss  for  a  drawing  or  print  of  Dunluce  Cas- 
tle ;  take  it  now  I  pray  you  in  hand,  and  observe  with  me  the  narrow  wall  that  con- 
nects the  ruined  fortress  with  the  main  land  ;  see  how  this  wall  is  perforated,  and 
without  any  support  from  beneath,  how  it  hangs  there,  bearing  time  and  tempest, 
and  still  needing  no  power  of  arch,  simply  by  the  power  of  its  own  cemented  ma- 
terial; the  art  of  man  could  not  make  such  another  self-supported  thing,  it  is 
about  eighteen  inches  broad,  just  the  path  of  a  man,  do  not  fear  to  cross  it,  rest 
assured  it  wont  tumble  with  you,  it  has  borne  many  a  better  man,  so  come  on,  who's 
afraid  ? — '  I  really  cannot  bring  myself  to  venture,'  was  the  reply  of  both  my 


52  8CEKERY    OF    1KKI.AM). 

companions.  '  Sit  ye  down  then,  ye  giddy-headed  cockneys,  and  bask  your  day 
in  the  sun,  Alick  and  I  will  step  across  and  visit  the  Baushee.'  So,  with  the 
greatest  ease,  we  tripped  across  :  Carrick-a-Rede  is  seventy  times  more  fearful.  '  And 
now,  Mr.  M'Mullen,  as  you  and  I  have  this  old  place  to  ourselves,  come  show  me 
every  thing,  and  tell  me  all  about  it.'  '  With  the  greatest  pleasure  in  life,  sir," 
says  Alick,  '  for  it  gave  me  joy  to  see  a  gentleman  like  you,  hopping  like  a  jack- 
daw over  that  bit  of  a  wall ;  and  indeed  many  a  good  one  comes  here  like  yon, 
gentleman  and  lady,  who  I  believe  have  their  skulls  full  of  what  they  call  nerve, 
instead  of  sensible  steady  brains.'  '  Well,  Alick,  beyond  a  doubt  this  is  a  fine  old 
place.'  '  Why  then,  sir,  it's  you  that  may  say  that,  for  many  a  battle  and  bloody 
head  was  about  it  in  good  old  fighting  times,  when  fighting  and  fun  were  all  one  in 
merry  Ireland.'  '  Come  then,  Alick,  tell  me  some  of  this  fighting  fun  that  the 
good  old  happy  people  you  speak  of  enjoyed  here  in  Dunluce.'  '  And  does  it 
become  me  to  tell  your  honour  of  the  wars  of  Dunluce  ?  why  I  thought  as  how 
with  your  black  coat  and  spatterdashes,  you  might  be  a  scholar — besides,  as  you 
intend  to  see  the  Causeway,  and  the  Cave,  and  Pleaskin,  it  may  be  your  honour 
wont  have  time  to  hear  all  I  have  to  tell  you  about  the  M'Quillans  and  M'Don- 
nells, and  Surly  Boy  and  Captain  Merriman — but,  at  any  rate,  I'll  tell  you,  in  short, 
about  the  boat-race,  whereby  this  castle  was  won  and  lost,  when  the  M'Quillans  and 
M'Donnells  contended  for  it  in  the  presence  of  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  agreed 
to  leave  their  right  to  the  issue  of  a  row  from  Isla  to  Dunluce — he  who  first  touched 
the  land  was  to  have  the  castle  as  his  prize ;  so  they  started  on  just  such  a  day  as 
this,  wind  and  wave  agreed  to  sit  still  and  let  the  oarmen  have  fair  play — and  to 
be  sure  it  was  they  who  rowed  for  honour  and  glory  as  for  life,  and  the  M'Quillans 
prayed  enough  for  St.  Patrick,  and  the  M'Donnells  to  Columkill  of  the  Isles,  and 
neither,  you  may  be  sure,  spared  the  spirits — for  it's  hard  to  say  whether  John 
Highlandman,  or  Pat  of  the  green  hills,  is  better  at  that  work  ;  but,  at  any  rate, 
on  they  came,  beautiful  and  abreast,  like  two  swans  cutting,  with  white  bosoms,  the 
green  waters ;  and  now  it  was  pull  Paddy,  and  now  it  was  pull  Sandy,  and  none  on 
the  shore  could  tell  for  their  lives  which  was  foremost ;  but  at  any  rate,  the  Irish 
boys  shouted  enough,  and  prayed  enough  for  the  M'Quillans  ;  and  now,  sir,  they 
were  within  stone's  throw,  and  now  almost  within  oar's  length,  when  what  do  you 
think  my  Scotchman  did  ?  For  never  put  it  past  canny  Sawney,  all  the  world  over, 
for  getting  the  better  of  others ;  and  if  he  fails  at  fair  beating,  he'll  not  pass  by 
cheating  :  so  it  was  here.  The  two  chiefs  were  each  at  their  boat's  bow,  and 
M'Quillan  had  his  long  arm  outstretched,  and  M'Donnell  held  his  lochabar  axe  in 
his  hand,  and  all  at  once  laying  his  left  wrist  on  the  gunwale  before  him,  he  slashed 
at  it  with  his  hatchet;  severed  it  at  a  blow, and  while  it  was  spinning  out  blood,  he 
flung  it  with  all  his  force  against  the  rock ;  and  do  you  see  where  that  sea-parrot 


l\ 


is  now  jjerched,  on  that  bird'&riu: 
mark  is  said  to  be  there,:  though; 


Such  wa>  the  cry  of  Mi 
Irish  gave  if  \n  fnvoiir  ( 
prize,  and  Jung  and  in 
Irishman,  and  to  thi< 


Lemuel  Cc 
Wexford. 


sulated  by 
cally  OQ  to 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  53 

is  now  perched,  on  that  bird's-nest  ledge,  there  the  bleeding  hand  lay,  and  the  red 
mark  is  said  to  be  there,  though  I  have  never  seen  it,  unto  this  very  day. 

'  Huzza  for  M'Donnell,  Dunluce  is  our  own, 
For  spite  of  M'Quillan,  the  castle  is  won.' 

Such  was  the  cry  of  the  Scotchmen  as  they  landed,  and  so  it  was  that  even  the 
Irish  gave  it  in  favour  of  the  foreigner,  who,  at  the  expense  of  his  limb,  won  the 
prize,  and  long  and  many  a  day  the  Scotchmen  held  it,  until  he  became  a  good 
Irishman,  and  to  this  hour  you  may  see  a  bloody  hand  painted  in  the  middle  of 
Lord  Antrim's  coat-of-arms." 


VIII. 

FROM  Dunluce  we  travelled  southward  to  Coleraine,  a  remarkably  neat  and  pretty 
town,  and  thence  by  Limavady  to  Londonderry,  a  part  of  Ireland  abounding  in 
rural  beauty,  and  wearing  more  the  look  of  England  than  any  other  that  I  had  seen. 
From  the  hill  by  which  we  descended  to  Berry,  the  view  was  like  one  of  an  illumi- 
nated city,  several  large  factories,  with  a  bright  light  streaming  from  every  window, 
standing  opposite  to  us,  and  the  hill  within  the  walls  showing  apparently  a  light  in 
every  house.  We  entered  the  city  over  a  bridge,  built  by  a  townsman  of  my  own, 
Lemuel  Cox,  of  Boston,  United  States,  another  of  whose  bridges  I  had  crossed  at 
Wexford.  This  over  the  Foyle  is  a  wooden  structure,  one  thousand  and  sixty-two 
feet  in  length,  and  considered  here  a  great  curiosity. 

Londonderry  occupies  the  sides  and  summit  of  a  steep  promontory,  almost  penin- 
sulated  by  a  noble  sweep  of  the  smooth,  deep  Foyle,  whose  waters  glide  majesti- 
cally on  towards  a  broad  estuary,  where  they  are  mingled  with  the  ocean.  The 
old  town  is  included  within  the  walls,  and  entered  by  the  ancient  gates,  still  entire, 
while  the  gradual  increase  of  population  and  commercial  prosperity  have  occasioned 
an  extension  of  the  city  avenues  to  a  distance  beyond  them.  The  steepness  of  the 
ascent  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  summit  of  the  hill,  particularly  up  the  Ship- 
Quay  Street,  is  so  great,  as  to  be  nearly  impracticable  by  carriages,  or,  at  all  events, 
to  be  highly  dangerous ;  and  they  tell  a  tale  of  the  respectable  inhabitants  of  this 
old-fashioned  street,  that  when  they  visited  each  other  in  the  winter-season,  their 

VOL.  i.  p 


54  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

passage  was  accomplished  by  self-moving  sledges ;  a  form  turned  upside  down 
having  once  conveyed  a  group  returning  from  an  evening  party,  in  safety  and  with 
expedition,  to  the  foot  of  the  hill.  The  Diamond,  so  the  central  square,  or  market- 
place, is  generally  called,  is  the  regulating  point  from  which  the  other  streets  ema- 
nate ;  and  here  the  town-hall  and  reading-rooms  are  erected.  Some  of  the  build- 
ings appropriated  to  the  public  business  are  handsome ;  all  are  spacious  and  con- 
venient. The  court-house,  a  fine  elevation  in  the  Grecian  style,  is  after  a  design 
by  Bowden  ;  the  principal  front  displays  much  grandeur  and  beauty,  but  the  lateral 
entrances  and  fronts  are  in  a  very  inferior  manner.  The  old  palace,  the  grammar- 
school,  and  lunatic  asylum,  possess  no  architectural  elegance,  but  are  built  after 
liberal  and  useful  designs.  On  the  apex  of  the  hill  of  Derry  stands  the  church, 
which  is  both  parochial  and  capitular :  it  is  a  venerable  structure,  in  the  pointed 
style,  with  h'nials  and  graduated  battlements,  but,  incongruously  enough  as  a  cathe- 
dral, finished  with  a  tower  and  spire.  Within  are  preserved  standards,  and  trophies, 
and  other  relics  of  the  bravery  of  their  ancestors,  and  of  the  memorable  defence 
made  by  the  citizens. 

Early  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  a  considerable  part  of  the  province  of  Ulster 
was  vested  in  the  crown,  by  the  attainder  of  the  Roman  Catholic  families  of  dis- 
tinction, and  a  colonization  of  the  forfeited  estates  was  then  suggested  to  the  king 
by  the  lord-treasurer,  Salisbury.  His  majesty,  conceiving  the  city  of  London  to 
be  the  best  qualified  to  effect  so  great  an  object,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1609, 
permitted  an  agreement  to  be  entered  into,  between  commissioners  for  the  city,  and 
the  lords  of  the  privy  council,  whereby  the  towns  and  liberties  of  Derry  and  Cole- 
raine,  with  the  "  salmon  and  eel  fisheries  of  the  rivers  Bann  and  Foyle,  and  all 
other  kind  of  fishing  in  the  river  Foyle,  so  far  as  the  river  floweth,  and  in  the  Bann 
to  Lough  Neagh,  should  be  in  perpetuity  to  the  city;"  that  the  liberties  of  Lon- 
donderry should  extend  three  miles  every  way ;  with  numerous  other  privileges  and 
conditions,  included  in  twenty-seven  articles  of  agreement.  In  1613,  the  society 
of  the  new  plantation  of  Ulster  was  incorporated  ;  and  from  this  date  Derry  has 
been  the  property  of  the  city  of  London. 

In  the  wars  of  William  and  James,  Derry,  from  the  number  of  its  Protestant  in- 
habitants, was  looked  on  with  suspicion  by  one  party,  and  partiality  by  the  other. 
Hither  the  Protestants  of  the  north  retreated  as  to  a  sanctuary  ;  and  the  improvi- 
dent precaution  of  Lord  Tyrconnel,  in  withdrawing  Mountjoy's  regiment  from  the 
place,  produced  the  unhappy  effect  of  augmenting  the  breach  between  the  con- 
tending parties.  The  lord-deputy  had  directed  that  Lord  Antrim's  regiment,  con- 
sisting wholly  of  Roman  Catholics,  men  "  tall  and  terrible  of  aspect,"  should 
immediately  take  up  their  quarters  here,  and  overcome  the  Protestants  of  the  north; 
but  dilatoriness  in  the  execution  of  his  measures,  and  the  advance  of  the  ferocious- 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  55 

looking  body  being  communicated  to  the  citizens,  by  Philips,  of  Newtown  Lima- 
vady,  the  gates  were  closed  against  the  advanced-guard  that  had  arrived  within  three 
hundred  yards  of  the  walls. 

In  the  history  of  the  siege  of  Derry,  the  particulars  of  the  closing  of  the  gates 
are  thus  given.  "  A  letter  was  dropt  at  Cumber,  in  the  county  of  Down,  where 
the  Earl  of  Mount  Alexander  resided,  dated  December  3d,  1688,  informing  that 
nobleman,  that  on  Sunday,  the  9th  of  that  month,  the  Irish  throughout  the  whole 
island,  in  pursuance  of  an  oath  which  they  had  taken,  were  to  rise  and  massacre 
the  Protestants,  men,  women,  and  children,  and  warning  him  to  take  particular  care 
of  himself,  as  a  captain's  commission  would  be  the  reward  of  the  man  who  would 
murder  him."  There  was  no  name  subscribed  to  this  letter,  and  the  bad  writing 
and  low  style  of  it,  seemed  to  argue  that  it  was  penned  by  one  of  the  lowest  of  the 
natives. 

A  copy  of  this  letter  was  sent  by  William  Coningham,  Esq.,  from  Belfast,  en- 
closed in  one  of  his  own,  to  George  Canning,  Esq.,  of  Garvagh,  in  the  county  of 
Londonderry.  Mr.  Canning,  whose  father  had  been  cruelly  murdered  at  his  own 
house  in  that  place,  on  the  commencement  of  the  massacre  of  1641,  sent  this  letter 
with  the  utmost  expedition  to  Alderman  Tomkins,  in  Derry,  according  to  the  strict 
inj  unctions  of  Mr.  Coningham.  A  gentleman  meeting  with  this  messenger  on  the  way, 
was  informed  of  the  contents  of  the  despatches,  and  sent  the  information  to  George 
Philips,  of  Newtown  Limavady,  on  the  6th  of  December,  on  which  day  a  part  of  the 
Earl  of  Antrim's  new  regiment  arrived  there  on  its  way  to  Londonderry.  Mr. 
Philips,  then  in  his  ninetieth  year,  with  a  promptness  to  be  expected  in  a  veteran 
highly  distinguished  through  the  whole  of  the  preceding  civil  wars,  sent  a  messen- 
ger at  midnight  to  the  city,  with  an  account  of  what  had  been  communicated  to 
him,  and  to  acquaint  his  friends  there  what  description  of  guests  they  were  likely 
to  have  on  the  ensuing  day.  He  wrote  to  them,  that  instead  of  six  or  eight  com- 
panies of  Irish  Papists  and  Scottish  Highlanders  of  the  same  religion,  as  had  been 
reported,  this  regiment  consisted  of  about  double  the  number,  attended  by  a  multi- 
tude of  women  and  boys. 

At  an  early  hour  next  morning,  Mr.  Philips  sent  another  messenger  to  London- 
derry, expressing  his  increased  apprehension  of  the  consequences  of  suffering  this 
regiment  to  enter  the  city,  and  advising  the  citizens  to  look  to  their  safety.  The 
messenger,  who  was  charged  with  the  delivery  of  the  letter,  told  them,  that  he  had 
left  some  of  the  foremost  companies  within  two  miles  of  the  town,  the  rest  being 
on  their  way. 

The  Protestant  inhabitants  were  terrified ;  several  of  them  assembled  in  groups 
through  the  streets.  The  APPRENTICE  BOYS,  with  a  mob  of  the  lower  orders 
along  with  them,  muttered  something  about  shutting  the  gates ;  they  got  some 


56  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

private  encouragement  to  do  so  at  first,  but  that  was  soon  retracted,  and  the 
minds  of  all  the  men  of  weight  fluctuated  in  a  miserable  doubt  of  the  most 
prudent  course  to  take.  In  the  meantime  two  companies  of  the  unwelcome 
regiment  arrived  at  the  waterside,  commanded  by  a  lieutenant  and  an  ensign. 
The  officers,  leaving  their  men  there,  were  ferried  over,  and  waited  on  the  deputy- 
mayor  and  the  sheriffs,  with  their  authority  for  demanding  admission.  John 
Buchannan,  the  deputy,  a  man  secretly  devoted  to  the  interest  of  James,  had 
no  objection  to  give  the  regiment  the  most  honourable  reception;  but  Horace 
Kennedy,  one  of  the  sheriffs,  had  given  the  APPRENTICE  BOYS  a  secret  hint 
during  the  preceding  night,  and  they  were  at  hand,  prepared  to  shut  the  gates 
against  the  regiment.  While  they  were  in  some  consultation  with  each  other 
on  the  subject,  the  Irish  soldiers,  impatient  at  the  delay  of  their  officers,  or 
having,  it  is  thought,  some  intimation  of  the  nature  of  the  reception  intended  for 
them,  and  a  strong  desire  to  frustrate  it,  crossed  the  river,  and  appeared  on  the  land- 
ing-place, about  three  hundred  yards  from  the  ferry-gate.  The  young  men  of  the 
city  observing  this,  about  eight  or  nine  of  them,  whose  names  deserve  to  be  pre- 
served iu  letters  of  gold,  viz.,  HENRY  CAMPSIE,  WILLIAM  CROOKSHANKS,  ROBERT 
SHERUAKD,  DANIEL  SHERRARD,  ALEXANDER  IRWIJJ,  JAMES  STEWARD,  ROBERT 
MORRISON,  ALEXANDER  CONINGHAM,  SAMUEL  HUNT,  with  JAMES  SPIKE,  JOHN 
CONINGHAM,  WILLIAM  CAIRNS,  SAMUEL  HARVEY,  and  some  others  who  soon 
joined  them,  ran  to  the  main-guard,  seized  the  keys,  after  a  slight  opposition,  came 
to  the  ferry-gate,  drew  up  the  bridges  and  locked  the  gate;  Lord  Antrim's  soldiers 
having  advanced  within  sixty  yards  of  it.  They  ran  to  secure  the  other  three  gates, 
and  having  left  guards  at  each  of  them,  assembled  in  the  market-place. 

Eleven  days  King  James  continued  his  assaults  with  repeated  mortifications,  and 
withdrew  from  the  camp  with  peevishness,  observing,  that  an  English  army  would 
have  brought  him  the  town  piecemeal  in  half  that  time.  The  protraction  of  the 
siege  gave  birth  to  enemies  not  previously  thought  of, — famine  and  disease ;  these 
had  just  begun  to  aid  the  besieger,  when  a  fleet  hove  in  sight,  with  troops  and  pro- 
visions, to  assist  the  reformed  cause  in  Ireland.  The  enemy,  taking  advantage  of 
the  apparent  inactivity  of  the  commander,  threw  a  boom  across  the  Foyle,  and  in- 
terrupted the  navigation. 

The  situation  of  the  besieged  from  this  period,  became  truly  deplorable,  but  the 
resolution  and  bravery  of  its  garrison,  proved  equal  to  those  of  the  most  devoted 
men  that  we  read  of  in  the  history  of  any  nation.  Their  determination  seemed 
to  acquire  strength  from  the  increased  misery :  and,  amidst  famine  and  death,  one 
of  their  governors,  Baker,  failing  from  fatigue,  they  threatened  instant  destruction 
to  the  man  who  should  first  advise  a  surrender.  Rosen,  who  conducted  the  siege, 
gave  them  until  the  1st  of  July  to  consider ;  upon  which  day,  finding  the  garrison 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  57 

still  obstinate,  he  drove  a  miserable  number  of  Protestants,  of  all  ages  and  sexes, 
gathered  from  the  surrounding  districts,  beneath  the  walls,  who,  with  true  Ro- 
man fortitude,  and  like  so  many  Reguluses,  besought  their  countrymen,  on  bended 
knees,  and  with  outstretched  arms,  to  disregard  their  cries,  their  tortures,  and 
their  deaths,  and  persevere  to  defend  themselves  against  the  basest  and  most 
cruel  of  enemies.  The  townsmen  now  erected  gallowses  on  the  walls,  and  threatened 
to  execute  their  prisoners,  if  their  wretched  countrymen  were  not  suffered  to  escape ; 
but  Rosen  persevered,  and  famine  and  massacre  pursued  their  cold  and  devastating 
way.  The  Protestant  Bishop  of  Meath  now  boldly  remonstrated  with  King  James, 
upon  the  inhuman  massacre  of  the  unoffending  victims  without  the  walls  ;  to  which 
his  majesty  coolly  replied,  "  That  such  severities  were  usual  in  foreign  service;" 
but  ordered  the  sufferers  to  be  released. 

Time  had  now  almost  effected  for  the  enemy  what  their  military  skill  and  cou- 
rage were  unequal  to ;  the  flesh  of  horses,  dogs,  and  vermin  now  constituted  the 
only  sustenance  of  the  besieged,  and  it  was  calculated  that  of  this  miserable  food 
a  supply  of  a  few  days  was  all  that  could  be  obtained.  In  this  extremity,  Walker's 
courage  and  presence  of  mind  never  for  an  instant  deserted  him ;  he  harangued  his 
brave  companions  at  the  crossways,  and  in  his  sacred  pastoral  character  addressed 
them  from  the  pulpit,  imploring  them  to  place  a  firm  reliance  upon  the  Almighty 
Disposer  of  events.  At  this  critical  moment,  Kirk,  accompanied  by  his  fleet,  reap- 
peared below  the  town,  and  manifested  a  determination  to  attempt  its  relief.  Two 
provision-ships,  convoyed  by  the  Dartmouth  frigate,  approached  the  city,  within 
view  of  the  half-famished  garrison  that  manned  the  walls,  and  reached  the 
boom,  the  eventful  spot,  under  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry,  and  discharge  of  can- 
non from  the  enemy.  All  eyes  were  now  intent ;  the  arm  of  the  soldier  was  sus- 
pended for  a  moment  from  its  work  of  destruction,  while  he  hearkened  to  the  heavy 
sound  of  the  victualling-ship  striking  against  the  boom,  the  final  proclamation  of 
death  or  victory.  She  dashed  with  giant  strength  against  the  barrier,  and  broke  it  in 
two ;  but  from  the  violence  of  the  shock,  rebounded  and  ran  upon  the  river's  bank. 
The  satisfaction  of  the  enemy  was  displayed  by  an  instantaneous  burst  of  tumultuous 
joy:  they  ran  with  disorder  to  the  shore,  prepared  to  board  her,  when  the  vessel,  firing 
a  broadside,  was  extricated  by  the  shock,  and  floated  out  nobly  into  the  deep  again. 
During  the  short  interval  of  these  momentous  events,  the  feelings  of  the  besieged 
can  only  be  compared  to  the  criminal — tried,  condemned,  reprieved :  they  under- 
went the  trial,  they  prepared  for  their  sentence  with  firmness,  and  they  bore  the 
reprieve  with  the  humility  that  might  be  expected  to  belong  to  such  bravery  and 
resolution. 

Upon  this  happy  relief  the  enemy  raised  the  siege  and  marched  to  the  southward. 
Two  thousand  three  hundred  of  the  garrison  perished  in  battle,  or  by  famine, 

VOL.  i.  Q 


58  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

and  of  the  enemy  above  eight  thousand,  during  a  siege  of  one  hundred  and  five 
days. 

The  walls  of  Deny  are  in  high  preservation,  and  form  a  most  agreeable  prome- 
nade of,  perhaps,  a  mile  in  circumference.  We  walked  around  them  in  twenty 
minutes.  There  is  no  street  around  the  interior  of  the  walls,  but  the  houses  are  in 
many  places  backed  against  them.  The  view  over  the  Foyle  and  the  country  be- 
yond, from  that  part  on  which  stands  the  PILLAK  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  he- 
roic clergyman,  WALKER,  is  exceedingly  fine.  Walker's  Pillar  is  a  Doric  column, 
eighty  feet  in  height,  and  finished  with  a  cupola,  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  the 
patriot,  with  his  arm  outstretched,  the  base  of  the  column  surrounded  by  the  can- 
non used  in  the  defence  of  the  city.  Derry  is  a  clean  and  handsome  town,  with  a 
general  look  of  thrift  and  order.  We  saw  no  beggars  in  the  streets,  and  no  signs 
of  the  extreme  poverty  which  disfigures  the  aspect  of  most  towns  in  Ireland. 

The  road  from  Derry  to  Enniskillen  follows  the  Foyle  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, and  a  most  lovely  river  it  is — the  deficiency  of  wood  on  its  shores  alone 
proving  an  exception  to  the  variety  of  its  beauties.  Coasting  the.  northern  side  of 
Lough  Erne,  the  traveller  arrives  at  Enniskillen,  the  chief  town  of  Fermanagh,  and 
the  most  important  in  the  north-west  district  of  Ireland.  The  town  stands  on  an 
elevated  island,  formed  by  the  branching  of  the  river  Erne,  in  its  progress  from  the 
upper  to  the  lower  lake.  Though  it  cannot  boast  of  high  antiquity,  (says  Fraser,  in 
his  excellent  Guide  Book  to  Ireland,)  it  may  fairly  claim  what  is  of  far  more  im- 
mediate importance — a  comparatively  well-built,  well-arranged,  and  well-governed 
town,  a  steady  trade,  and  many  respectable  inhabitants. 

The  environs  of  Enniskillen  are  very  interesting,  as  well  from  the  naturally  rich 
and  broken  character  of  the  country,  as  from  its  comparative  improvement.  Two 
miles  from  the  town,  in  the  entrance  to  the  Lower  Lough  Erne,  stands  DEVENISH 
ISLAND,  the  most  important  of  the  "  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  islands,"  said  to 
dot  the  bosom  of  this  lovely  lake.  Most  of  the  other  islets  present  a  green  and 
cheerful  picture  to  the  eye,  but  Devenish,  says  the  author  of  The  Story  of  a  Life, 
"  has  a  deader,  duller,  paler  look  than  any  other  of  the  islets  of  the  lake."  A 
writer,  in  the  Dublin  Penny  Journal  demurs  to  this  description,  and  declares  the 
island  to  be  remarkably  fertile,  and,  of  course,  cheerful  in  its  aspect.  The  ruins  of 
a  supposed  monastery,  of  an  ancient  abbey,  and  the  cell  of  a  venerable  man,  stand 
near  the  centre  of  this  lonely  isle,  while  the  tall  shaft  of  the  ancient  pillar-tower 
raises  its  grey  height  "  like  a  mountain  of  some  patient  and  abiding  grief."  Around 
this  place  of  silence  and  of  ruin,  reminiscences  of  mortality  lie  scattered,  in  a  way 
but  little  grateful  to  the  living;  the  rude  stones  that  lie  upon  the  graves  around,  so 
stained  with  weather,  and  time-decayed,  and  overgrown  with  rank-weeds,  that  they 
are  scarcely  approachable,  and  thus  their  legends  are  lost.  The  crypt  of  the  foun- 


••:>"»•  of  on«  hundred  and  five 

•rm  a  most  agreeable  prorne- 

ilked  around  them  in  twenty 

<•  wails,  but  the  houses  are  in 

ir:  J-VwIe.and  the  country  be- 

tt-il  to  rhe  mi-inory  of  the  he- 

Uwi  's  >t  Doric  column, 

^v  a  statue  of  the 

••i'!M;i'..i  :..,  the  can- 

.."  •    .'iii'.'  t  .\vn,  with  a 


•  •  '••  •  t;  y  ncli 

•»,,:nt.      Tw- 

•»•  DEVE.MSH 

'is,"  said  to 

i  tcrcen  and 

•jry  of  a  Life, 

:  rhe,  lake.1*    A 

!•-•!».  and  declares  the 

•  ,  ••  rt.     The  ruins  of 

;i  venerable  tuan,  Stand 

f  thl  antient  pillar-tower 

••  m.<-!  abiding  grief."    Around 

mortality  7!C  »c;ittered,  in  ti  way 

it  lie  upon  th«?  graves  arom 

tpwn  u-ith  ru  :k-w 

»re  lost    'l"he  crypt  of 


(Y 


'    \ 
I 


der  stnixta  roo 
closed  :  .is  bin 

piles.     In  n£,j 


to  the  ft'unduiiiiiji.of  Chr 
sullied  'iv  Uis  toii^iu  iT 


The  funeral  orati 
ball  of  the  chiel 
virtues  of  the  d 
daughters?  O* 
(olden  valley.'"* 
vt:il)ul  portion  of 


much  less  -ec 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  59 

der  stands  roofless  amidst  this  scene  of  decay,  and  the  stone  coffin  that  once  en- 
closed his  breast,  is  firmly  buried  in  the  earth  beside  it.  There  is  a  veneration,  a 
religious  feeling,  or  perhaps  a  superstition,  attached  to  Devenish  and  its  ruined 
piles.  In  no  country  of  Europe  is  more  tenderness  expressed  for  the  loss  of  rela- 
tives and  kindred,  or  so  much  posthumous  affection  manifested  in  the  respect  paid 
to  their  remains.  Perhaps  it  is  imagined  that  those  who  flourished  at  an  age  nearer 
to  the  foundation  of  Christianity  were  necessarily  more  holy,  and  that  the  stream  is 
sullied  by  the  length  of  its  course  ?  Whatever  be  the  cause,  the  veneration  for  an- 
cient cemeteries,  crosses,  and  ecclesiastical  ruins,  is  unconfined. 

The  sadness  of  a  funeral  procession  is  so  characteristic  of  this  consecrated  isle, 
which  melancholy  has  marked  peculiarly  her  own,  that  its  introduction  in  the  ac- 
companying view  does  scarcely  draw  upon  the  imagination. 

The  insular  position  of  the  cemetry  renders  the  funeral  ceremony  sometimes  in- 
secure. The  sorrowing  friends,  accompanied  by  those  who  deplore,  in  strains  both 
loud  and  long,  the  loss  sustained  by  the  surviving  relative,  proceed  to  some  place 
of  embarkation,  and  thence  set  sail,  in  barks  of  frail  materials,  for  the  holy  isle. 
The  antiquity  of  this  custom,  not  only  in  Ireland  but  amongst  the  Romans,  Greeks, 
and  Hebrews,  is  indisputable.  "  The  mourners  go  about  the  streets,"  has  an  ob- 
vious reference  to  persons  analogous  to  the  professional  Reeners  in  Ireland.  The 
Romans  had  their  "  prseficae  mulieres,"  who,  "  with  dishevelled  locks,"  led  on 
the  melancholy  parade  of  death  ;  and  Homer  frequently  alludes  to  this  ceremony 
in  describing  the  last  rites  of  his  most  conspicuous  heroes : 


and  again, 


"  The  pious  maids  their  mingled  sorrows  shed, 
And  mourn  the  living  Hector  as  the  dead." 


Alternately  they  sing,  alternate  flow 

The  obedient  tears,  melodious  in  their  woe." 


The  funeral  oration,  or  song,  was  anciently  composed  by  the  bard,  who  dwelt  in  the 
hall  of  the  chieftains,  and  contained,  in  its  elegiac  numbers,  a  catalogue  of  the 
virtues  of  the  deceased.  "  O  why  did  he  die,  who  had  so  many  sons  and  fair 
daughters  ?  O  why  did  he  die,  who  was  lord  of  the  hill  and  the  dale,  and  the 
golden  valley?"  &c. ;  such  wild  effusions  formerly,  and  even  now,  constitute  the 
verbal  portion  of  the  elegiac  lamentation,  called  "  The  Irish  Cry." 

The  boats  that  navigate  the  smooth  surface  of  Lough  Erne,  are  seldom  capable 
of  conveying  more  than  ten  or  twelve  persons,  and  those  that  can  be  procured  for 
hire  are  much  less  secure  than  others.  Some  twenty  years  since,  a  party,  too  numerous 
for  a  vessel  of  such  dimensions  and  construction,  embarked  with  the  remains  of 


60  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

one  who,  in  life,  had  been  dear  to  all  around,  to  pay  the  last  sad  honour  to  his 
name.  The  reverend  companion  of  their  voyage  advised  and  exhorted  to  lighten 
the  bark,  before  they  entered  on  the  treacherously  smiling  surface  of  the  deep,  and 
rinding  all  remonstrances  vain,  himself  leaped  out  into  the  shallows  and  returned 
to  shore.  For  a  few  minutes,  and  a  few  only,  the  incautious  crew  proceeded  towards 
the  island,  when  fate,  enveloped  in  a  gust  of  wind,  struck  suddenly  against  the 
boat,  and  hurried  thirty  poor  victims  into  the  depths  of  the  lake. 

The  places  of  embarkation  are  the  promontory  of  Portora,*  at  the  foot  of  the 
eminence  on  which  the  endowed  school  stands,  and  Tully  Devinish  on  the  south- 
west side.  At  this  latter  point,  in  an  old  orchard,  is  shown  a  rock  of  about  four 
tons  weight ;  thrown  hither  from  the  island  by  a  famous  friar,  M'Comhal,  the 
Friar  of  Devinish,  the  same  who  leaped  also  from  his  monastery  over  to  Derry 
Inch. 

A  curious  relic,  called  Molais's  Bed,  already  mentioned,  possesses  virtues  of 
an  unique  description,  and  is  a  prophetic  touchstone  of  that  one's  future  fate  who 
has  the  intrepidity  to  make  the  experiment.  This  is  done  by  reclining  in  the  bed  : 
some  are  relieved  of  pains  in  the  back  by  the  merit  of  the  stone ;  and  for  those 
whose  figures  precisely  fit  to  the  dimensions,  brighter  prospects  are  reserved.  The 
lid  of  the  saint's  coffin,  a  stone  six  feet  two  inches  in  length,  lies  at  the  eastern  end 
of  the  lower  church,  and  has  hitherto  been  incorrectly  noticed  as  the  shaft  of  a 
cross. 

Of  the  monastic  remains,  that  called  "  The  Upper  Church"  is  the  most  perfect 
and  the  most  modern,  or  probably  has  been  re-edified  at  a  later  period.  The  base- 
ment story  of  the  tower  is  grained,  and  in  the  ceiling  are  two  apertures,  coeval  with 
the  building,  through  which  bell-ropes  were  formerly  passed.  A  small  pointed 
doorway  leads  to  a  spiral  staircase,  by  which  the  battlements  of  the  tower  are 
reached.  The  masonry,  sculpture  it  might  almost  be  called,  is  very  remarkable. 
The  angles  of  the  architraves  being  delicately  fluted,  and  finished  equally  at  top  as 
at  bottom,  produce  an  effect  both  light  and  graceful.  At  the  height  of  five  feet 
from  the  floor,  and  adjoining  the  entrance  to  the  belfry,  is  a  mural  tablet,  bearing 
an  inscription  in  ancient  characters.  There  is  a  second  door-way  in  the  south  wall, 
with  an  ornamental  architrave,  above  which,  in  a  canopied  niche,  were  the  arms  of 
the  founder,  or  of  some  benefactor  to  the  priory.  The  stone  used  in  the  building 
of  the  tower  is  a  beautiful  gray  limestone,  susceptible  of  a  high  polish ;  one  of 
the  varieties  found  in  the  district  adjoining  the  lake.  The  nunnery,  or  lower  church, 
according  to  the  local  nomenclator,  is  of  a  more  ancient  date  than  the  priory,  and 
much  more  dilapidated.  The  eastern  window,  still  perfect,  is  rudely  executed,  and 

*  The  Port  of  Lamentation. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  61 

divided  into  three  compartments,  with  lancet  heads,  and  banded  on  the  inside  ;  and 
in  the  southern  wall  are  two  circular-headed  windows,  of  later  construction,  illu- 
minating a  baptistry  just  below  then).  The  length  of  the  church  is  eighty-six 
feet,  a  fact  that  in  a  few  years  more  must  be  gathered  exclusively  from  the  records 
of  its  fate.  The  cell  or  crypt  of  the  titular  saint  is  wholly  unroofed  ;  the  side-walls 
and  gable  indicate  the  strength  of  the  cement  used  in  their  erection ;  and  from  the 
remnants  of  the  stone  roof  yet  visible,  the  ceiling  appears  to  have  been  coved  and 
separated  by  a  void  from  an  exterior  angular  roof,  also  of  stone,  in  the  manner  of 
St.  Revier's  kitchen  at  Glendalough. 

The  religious  institutions  on  Devinish  were  originally  founded  by  Lasreau,  also 
denominated  St.  Molaisse.  Although  a  man  of  acknowledged  piety,  and  eminent 
for  learning,  his  biography  is  but  imperfectly  known.  He  was  a  native  of  Carberry, 
near  Sligo,  and  the  son  of  Natfraich.  Educated  in  the  celebrated  seminary  of 
Clonard,  at  an  early  age  he  withdrew  to  this  island,  where  he  erected  a  monastery 
that  continued  to  be  famous  through  many  succeding  ages.  He  was  established 
there  previous  to  the  departure  of  Columbkill  from  Ireland,  in  567  ;  he  drew  up  a 
rule  for  his  followers,  received  the  visit  of  St.  Aldus  of  Kildare  and  other  holy 
men,  and  was  so  much  esteemed  that  ecclesiastical  writers  have  supposed,  or  pre- 
tended, that  he  sat  for  some  time  in  the  see  of  Clogher.  The  year  of  his  death  is 
not  precisely  ascertained ;  it  is  assigned  by  some  authors  to  563,  by  others  post- 
poned to  570  ;  but  the  day  of  his  decease,  the  12th  of  September,  being  well  at- 
tested, was  for  many  years  observed  as  a  festival  upon  the  island.  The  upper 
and  lower  churches  possessed  the  advantage  of  a  bell  suspended  in  each,  for 
many  years,  but  at  the  suppression  it  was  directed  that  they  should  be  carried  to 
the  cathedral  of  Armagh.  Boats  were  procured  for  the  purpose,  and  the  bell  of 
the  upper  church  was  conveyed  safely  to  shore,  and  carried  to  the  place  of  its  desti- 
nation ;  but  the  boat  in  which  was  Molaisse's  bell  sunk,  with  its  consecrated  load, 
to  the  bottom,  and  has  never  since  been  seen  or  recovered.  If  a  day  can  influence 
a  deed,  it  may  have  done  so  in  this  instance,  the  12th  of  September,  St.  Molaisse's 
festival,  having  been  the  date  of  the  singular  occurrence.  Molaisse  was  succeeded 
by  Natalis,  the  son  of  jEngusius,  King  of  Munster,  and  we  are  informed  that  the 
monastery  was  plundered  of  its  wealth  by  the  Danes  in  the  year  962. 

The  walls  of  Devenish  tower  are  built  of  hewn  stone ;  those  in  the  external  sur- 
face cut  into  truncated  wedges,  and  some  of  those  used  within  being  neatly  hol- 
lowed. The  mortar  has  fallen  away  from  the  external  surface  of  the  walls,  but 
within  retains  its  general  tenacity.  At  a  height  of  twelve  feet,  above  the  door- 
way, there  is  a  window  with  a  pointed  head,  formed  by  two  flags  leaning  against 
each  other ;  and  a  little  higher,  but  not  i  the  same  right  line,  is  a  second  window 
exactly  square.  In  the  upper  story  are  four  windows,  (usual  in  all  the  others,)  cor- 

VOL.  i.  H 


62 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 


responding  to  the  cardinal  points,  and  above  each  a  key-stone,  ornamented  with  a 
human  head.  A  projecting  course,  resembling  a  block  cornice,  is  carried  along  the 
top,  and  supports  a  conical  cap,  or  roof,  formed  by  gradually  diminishing  courses, 
terminated  by  a  bell-shaped  cap-stone.  The  inside  is  smooth,  and  exactly  finished, 
having  projecting  rests,  either  meant  to  support  floors,  or  occasioned  by  the  gradual 
decrease  in  the  thickness  of  the  walls  as  they  ascend. 

Devinish  occupies  an  area  of  seventy  acres,  of  rich  and  productive  soil.  It  sus- 
tains black  cattle,  whose  approach  is  almost  facilitated  by  the  intervention  of  the 
waters  through  which  they  are  compelled  to  swim,  and  sheep,  carried  over  in  flat- 
bottomed  boats.  A  herdsman  and  his  family  constitute  the  population  of  this  ro- 
mantic abode,  and  the  little  cultivation  their  necessities  require  varies  the  tame 
character  of  the  surface.  Devinish  had  long  been  the  property  of  the  Rynd  family, 
but  by  the  union  of  the  heiress  of  their  house  with  the  grandfather  of  Sir  Edward 
Denny,  of  Kerry,  it  passed  to  the  present  owner,  to  whom  it  produces  a  rent  of 
one  hundred  and  ten  pounds  per  annum. 


IX. 


THE  road  from  Enniskillen  and  Devinish  island  to  BALLYSHANNON  skirts  the 
southern  shore  of  Lough  Erne,  and  by  ascending  the  many  hills  which  rise  on  the 
left,  the  traveller  easily  commands  views  of  the  lake,  which  more  than  repay  him 
for  his  trouble.  Ballyshannon  is  beautifully  situated  at  the  outlet  of  the  river  Erne 
into  Donegal  Bay,  the  debouchure  into  the  tide-inlet  being  accomplished  over  a 
ledge  of  rocks  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  above  the  level  of  the  tide.  It  forms  alto- 
gether a  very  beautiful  bit  of  scenery.  There  is  little  to  arrest  the  traveller  or  the 
antiquarian  between  this  and  Sligo,  the  road  crossing  the  heads  of  the  various  small 
bays  which  indent  the  coast,  and  showing  on  one  side  constant  views  of  the  sea, 
and,  on  the  other,  the  towering  mountains  of  Ben-bulben,  Benwesky  and  their 
brethren. 

Sligo  lies  low,  and  appears  at  first  to  be  situated  upon  a  very  broad  and  deep 
river,  the  dam  across  the  Garwogue,  (which  runs  through  the  town  from  Loch  Gill,) 
preserving  its  waters  from  the  reflux  of  the  tide.  Sligo  has  a  remarkably  fine  neigh- 
bourhood of  hills,  which  though  wild  are  very  picturesque  ;  and  dirty  as  the  town 


•i  Bra 
it  of 


>'•>•    skirts  /the 

wfii.-ii  rise  on  the 

•V"   Uiaii  repay  him 

}<•>.  '*  -,ha  river  Erne 

ished  . 

»lt.  It   f 

!J»e  I 

>»f  OK 


town 


\, 


c 

'as  .• 


.  .     ••;»-!•..'     -i. i    •.  \: 

r . noes  around.-     •  . 
StiGo  ABBEY  m  ait  MMfl  <••    • 
giiially-  erected  by  -M-tun- 
14  it  was  destroyed  by  fip- 
If  of  architecture.    It  is  a  ; 
••ml  ajjartmentS'.     The  rirnt 
fc«  altar,  also  of  cut  stimc. 
i(i,  rind  the  othci  !«.•!«  u^ii  . 
nervation,  tbfl  hgncts  amJ  fi 
tfed  our  Saviour  on  tl.c'cr'* 
»ir;s  of  O'Connor  an^1  'n-    .> 
Button.      Tlic  steepic 


"lave  boen   am-  •  ui 
itr*<ioti  and  pcnaui 


rruwins  of  skulls,  hono,  usiil  •  •>» 
iog-plac". 

SligoisabusyLi'lcpli.;-!.,  - 
thuii  an      •;'  1 1  i,  ,\vn  ir,  tli,,L 
cidedly  improving  to.vn.     \V  •• 
th<Te  is  employment  foi  f!i-'  ;»•. • 
town  of  a  pauper  population.      d 
•ui  improvement.     I  saw  fewer  t. 
here  feet  on  market-day,  when 
abtu,  that  a  large  portion  of  the 
not  mcrPHPed  ifi  numbers  by  ejw 
the  landlords  here.      They  Ju  '«•• 
and  allow  the  tenant  to  quit.     T 
is,  in  fact,  n-v«t -r  *f  wct 
i  by  an\  li. 

'bund  at  - 

- 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  63 

is  on  examination,  it  forms  one  excellent  feature  of  the  romantic  views  got  from  the 
eminences  around. 

SLIGO  ABBEY  is  an  object  well  deserving  the  notice  of  the  antiquary.  It  was 
originally  erected  by  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  lord-justice,  about  the  year  1252.  In 
1414  it  was  destroyed  by  fire,  but  very  shortly  afterwards  re-erected  in  the  present 
style  of  architecture.  It  is  a  picturesque  ruin  of  very  large  dimensions,  divided  into 
several  apartments.  The  first  has  a  beautiful  window  of  carved  stone,  under  which 
is  the  altar,  also  of  cut  stone.  Here  are  two  ancient  monuments,  one  bearing  date 
1616,  and  the  other  belonging  to  one  of  the  O'Connor  kings.  The  latter  is  in  good 
preservation,  the  figures  and  inscriptions  being  very  legible.  At  the  top  is  repre- 
sented our  Saviour  on  the  cross,  and  below  this,  in  separate  compartments,  are  the 
figures  of  O'Connor  and  his  wife,  kneeling,  their  hands  lifted  up  in  the  act  of  sup- 
plication. The  steeple  or  dome  is  still  entire,  supported  upon  a  carved  arch  or 
cupola,  the  inside  of  which  is  also  carved.  Adjoining  these  are  three  sides  of  a 
square  of  beautifully  carved  little  arches,  of  about  four  feet  in  height,  which  seem 
to  have  been  anciently  separated  from  each  other,  and  probably  formed  cells  for 
confession  and  penance.  Almost  all  the  little  pillars  are  differently  ornamented, 
and  one  in  particular  is  very  unlike  the  rest,  having  a  human  head  cut  on  the  in- 
side of  the  arch.  There  are  several  vaults  throughout  the  ruins,  containing  the 
remains  of  skulls,  bones,  and  coffins.  The  abbey  and  yard  are  still  used  as  a  bury- 
ing-place. 

Sligo  is  a  busy  little  place,  with  a  large  retail  trade,  and  an  export  trade  larger 
than  any  other  town  in  that  part  of  Ireland.  "  It.  is,"  says  Mr.  Inglis,  "  a  de- 
cidedly improving  town.  With  the  exception  of  two  or  three  months  in  the  year, 
there  is  employment  for  the  people  ;  and  I  did  not  observe  many  symptoms  in  the 
town  of  a  pauper  population.  In  the  general  aspect  of  the  population,  I  perceived 
an  improvement.  I  saw  fewer  tatters  than  I  had  been  accustomed  to ;  and  fewer 
bare  feet  on  market-day,  when  all  wear  shoes  and  stockings  who  can.  I  observed 
also,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  men  wore  clean  linen  shirts.  The  poor  in  Sligo  are 
not  increased  in  numbers  by  ejectments  in  the  country.  This  is  not  the  practice  of 
the  landlords  here.  They  do  not  drive  for  rent  or  eject;  they  excuse  the  arrear, 
and  allow  the  tenant  to  quit.  This  has  the  appearance,  at  first  sight,  of  generosity, 
but  it  is,  in  fact,  matter  of  necessity.  Exorbitant  rents  are  irrecoverable  by  driv- 
ing, or  by  any  other  means.  How  much  more  rational  it  would  be  to  lower  rents 
and  actually  to  receive  the  amount  of  one's  rent-roll. 

"  I  found  at  Sligo,  a  considerable  change  in  the  dress  and  manners  of  the  people. 
Here,  I  could  not  discover  any  traces  of  Spanish  origin.  The  women  were  no 
longer  seen  with  the  hoods  of  their  cloaks  thrown  over  their  heads  ;  nor  were  the 
men  seen  with  huge  top-coats,  as  in  the  more  south-western  parts.  The  women 


61  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

wore  caps  and  bonnets ;  and  the  girls  nothing  on  their  heads.  There  appeared  to 
be  much  love  of  dress  among  all  ranks ;  and  among  the  lower  classes,  singular 
discrepancies.  A  well-dressed  woman  might  be  seen  carrying  in  her  arms  a  baby, 
decked  out  in  muslin,  lace,  and  ribbon,  and  by  her  side,  a  boy  running  with  bare 
feet  and  ragged  clothes ;  or  a  girl  with  a  tattered  gown,  and  without  shoes  and 
stockings,  might  display  a  fine  shawl  or  a  handsome  frill." 

We  must  quote  also  Mr.  Inglis's  account  of  his  visit  to  LOCH  GILL,  (or  Gilly.) 
"  The  chief  object  of  attraction  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sligo,  is  Loch  Gilly;  a 
lake  which  is  not  sufficiently  known  to  enjoy  the  reputation  it  deserves.  I  hired  a 
boat  at  Sligo,  and  ascended  the  river,  through  a  succession  of  beautiful  scenery,  to 
the  domain  of  tlazlewood,  the  property  of  Mr.  Wynn.  This  is  a  very  lovely  spot; 
the  views  of  the  lake,  from  a  hundred  points,  are  enchanting  ;  and,  in  the  disposi- 
tion of  lawn,  wood,  and  shrubbery,  taste  and  art  have  taken  ample  advantage  of 
the  gifts  of  nature.  Finer  evergreens  I  never  saw  in  the  most  southern  countries. 
The  laurels  and  bays — grown  into  great  trees — rivalled,  if  they  did  not  surpass,  those 
of  Woodstock  or  Curraghmore ;  and  here  I  again  found  the  arbutus,  not,  indeed, 
quite  equal  in  its  perfections  to  the  arbutus  of  Killarney,  but  not  greatly  its  infe- 
rior ;  and  giving  to  the  scenery  all  that  advantage  of  colouring,  which  is  the  boast  of 
Killarney.  The  timber  too,  on  this  domain,  is  equal  to  almost  any  I  have  seen;  and 
J  often  found  myself  pausing  before  some  magnificent  ash,  oak,  elm,  or  lime, 
throwing  its  deep  shade  across  the  green  amphitheatre,  which  it  seemed  to  have 
made  for  itself. 

"  But  I  must  not  forget  Loch  Gilly,  which  indeed  it  would  be  difficult  to  do.  The 
domain  of  Hazlewood  extends  over  that  part  of  the  banks  of  the  river  where  it 
widens  into  the  lake,  and  forms  the  first  promontory.  I  embarked  on  the  lake  on 
the  other  side.  Loch  Gilly  is  about  eight  miles  long,  and  from  one  to  two  broad, 
and  in  the  character  of  beauty,  will  bear  a  comparison  with  any  lake  in  Ireland. 
Its  scenery  is  not  stupendous — scarcely  even  anywhere  bold  ;  but  it  is  '  beautiful 
exceedingly.'  Its  boundaries  are  not  mountains,  but  hills  of  sufficient  elevation  to 
form  a  picturesque  and  striking  outline.  The  hill-sides,  which  in  some  places  rise 
abruptly  from  the  water,  and  which,  in  others,  slope  more  gently,  are  covered  to  a 
considerable  elevation  with  wood ;  and  the  lake  is  adorned  with  twenty-three 
islands,  almost  every  one  of  them  finely  wooded.  Here  too,  as  well  as  on  Hazlewood 
domain,  I  found  that  the  arbutus  is  not  confined  to  Killarney.  The  extent  of  Loch 
Gilly  is  highly  favourable  to  its  beauty.  The  eye  embraces  at  once  its  whole  length 
and  breadth  ;  the  whole  circumference  of  its  shores ;  all  their  varieties  and  con- 
trasts at  once ;  all  its  islands.  One  charm  is  not  lost  in  the  contemplation  of  an- 
other, as  in  a  greater  lake:  the  whole  is  seen  at  once  and  enjoyed.  I  remained 
many  hours  on  Loch  Gilly,  rowing  here  and  there,  or  not  moving  at  all ;  landing  on 


i.     There  appeared  to 
>wer  classes, 
e  in  her  ar9is  a  baby, 
by  running  with  bare 
A  without  shoes  and 

*  (JILL,  (or  Gilly.) 
a  Loch  Ciilly  ;  a 

•  -  rvu.-,.     I  hired  a 
beautiful  scenery,  to 
«.•>  ii  very  lovely  spot ; 
;   iiJid,  in  the  disposi- 


iiot  surpass,  those 
Hiiu.S  not,  indeed, 
>t  uTcatly  its  infe- 
u-li  is  the  boast  of 

I  ,'uivc  st'».'ii :  tiiid 

i  i..   'ir  lime, 

'   s.    in    !   to  have 


•••ili<  •!•'.  to  do.    The 

'In:    nvfi1   wla-re  it 

:.  'lie  lake  on 

'o  two  broad, 

'^ike  in  Ireland. 

t-    bold;  I'   •  it  is  '  beautiful 

i«  h:lU  of   .••:!  .'n-iit  elevation  to 

•-;;»!••!,  tvhtch  iti  some  places  rise 

'   .H-  un.ic  .  inily,  are  covered  to  a 

*kr.  IA  fcdurned   with   twenty-three 

Hare  tO'.i,  as  \veil  as  on  Hazlewood 

to  Killarncy.     The  extent  of  Loch 

» dfiioriii  •  -  at  mice  its  whole  length 

ihores ;  all  their  varieties  and  con- 

i-  lost  in  tin  ion  of  an- 

t  ortce  anfl 

,  or  not  tri. 


V 

I 


8CESKRY    OP    I9ELA.vt> 

its  islands,  two  of  which — Church  Island  and  OoU. 
putting  ashore  in  little  coves  and  inlets-;  rmd  v.irit'mj. 
dred  yards  from  the  banks,  where  I  sr>w  e X 
station  to  station  on  their  knees.     I  uU. 
lake,  which  the  citizens  of  SHjio  i'rei 
beverage,  called  scoltemi  .   composed  of  : 
eggs,  sugar,  butter,  carax\iiv^i-eu>,  ;-i 

The  only  point  of  piotLu--':--i'  :.;i    icti 
town  of  Balisedurc,  totir  nnl«-.< 
the  town,  and  a  narrow  uiu! 
The  remainder  of  t'.i  ro;ul 
BAU.INA  is  pieueantly  silt.  \'- 
centre  of  the  tow.,,  >rp,!r;t'vi 
forms  the  head  of  tiv   .-ti;,,i\ 
town  on  the  Sliijo  b:n.rv  vt   : 
under  Balliua.       From  tlj1   •  •.       .   • 
I.'.ich  Conn.  Hailin  i 
Moy  is  s.xid  f.  1)  •  seci-'i  •! 
in  the  Dublin  P(-ui.y  Journal, 
"  .Not  a  liutidird   yeui 
banks  of  tlr-  nor  ••  u%.  r,  u  i 
educated  man  or  pr  iu  ind  u  -n,. 
th.-  eyes  of  the  >•  oild,  : 
neighbouring  counties,     i'   !••!«•.'• 
habit,  of  visiting  iii.s  muni  VUU.T  ;: 
small  stream  in  it>  virnri  y.  end, 
wetting  a  portion  of  his  dr^-;,  ui,t 
denominated   his  '  yall;i-t';t't«'rs. 
and  ornamental  appendage*,  w'... 
pursued  hi6  way  ;  arid,  after  sonn-  M:.. 
great  horror,  he  discovered  that  in.-  linn 
dering  on  .the  propriety  of  returning  mm;. 
gisterial  attention  was  attracted  by  a  crw 
caravan  of  an  itinerant 'Pofcto,  on  which 
rious  animal-  <\  within.     Tin.  'i..-- 

got  in  front  of 'the  caravan  just  as  tht  »>>•• 
bv-standers  a  long  catalog'"  •<>  a:i.rac?.i'"'i>>i 
fine  alligators  found  on  d>e  banks  of  (lit  Niii 

iiorse,  and  ie.urig  the  • 
• .  I. 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  65 

its  islands,  two  of  which — Church  Island  and  Cottage  Island — are  full  of  beauty; 
putting  ashore  in  little  coves  and  inlets ;  and  visiting  a  holy  well,  two  or  three  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  banks,  where  I  saw  eleven  devotees,  four  of  whom  went  from 
station  to  station  on  their  knees.  I  also  visited  a  house  of  public  resort  near  the 
lake,  which  the  citizens  of  Sligo  frequent  on  Sundays ;  and  tasted  their  favourite 
beverage,  called  scolteen  ;  composed  of  the  following  elegant  ingredients — whiskey, 
eggs,  sugar,  butter,  carawayseeds,  and  beer." 

The  only  point  of  picturesque  attraction  between  Sligo  and  Ballina,  is  the  small 
town  of  Balisedare,  four  miles  on  the  road.  A  very  fine  stream  dashes  in  rapids  past 
the  town,  and  a  narrow  and  beautiful  bay  here  indents  the  shore  just  at  their  outlet. 
The  remainder  of  the  road  is  only  interesting  for  its  fine  sea-views.  The  town  of 
BALLINA  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Moy,  which  runs  through  the 
centre  of  the  town,  separating  the  counties  of  Mayo  and  Sligo.  The  town  nearly 
forms  the  head  of  the  estuary,  which  puts  in  from  Killala  Bay.  The  part  of  the 
town  on  the  Sligo  bank  of  the  river  is  called  Aeduaree,  but  generally  is  included 
under  Ballina.  From  the  excellent  fishing  the  Moy  affords,  and  its  proximity  to 
Loch  Conn,  Ballina  is  the  resort  of  many  anglers  during  the  summer-season.  The 
Moy  is  said  to  be  second  only  to  the  Bann  for  its  salmon ;  and,  by  an  anecdote  told 
in  the  Dublin  Penny  Journal,  its  amphibious  productions  are  yet  more  remarkable. 
"  Not  a  hundred  years  ago,"  the  narrator  goes  on  to  say,  "  there  lived  on  the 
banks  of  the  noble  river,  above  named,  a  person,  who,  though  neither  a  very  well 
educated  man  or  profound  naturalist,  was,  what  is  perhaps  of  more  consequence  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world,  a  wealthy  farmer,  and  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  one  of  the 
neighbouring  counties.  It  happened  that  his  worship,  who  was  in  the  frequent 
habit  of  visiting  his  numerous  farms  on  this  beautiful  river,  was  obliged  to  cross  a 
small  stream  in  its  vicinity,  and,  although  on  horseback,  he  was  apprehensive  of 
wetting  a  portion  of  his  dress,  out  of  which  he  took  no  small  pride,  and  which  he 
denominated  his  '  yalla-gaiters.'  He  therefore  divested  himself  of  those  useful 
and  ornamental  appendages,  and,  placing  them  across  the  shoulder  of  his  horse, 
pursued  his  way  ;  and,  after  some  time,  arrived  at  the  town  of  Ballina.  Here,  to  his 
great  horror,  he  discovered  that  he  had  dropped  his  '  yalla-gaiters,'  and  was  pon- 
dering on  the  propriety  of  returning  immediately  in  search  of  them,  when  his  ma- 
gisterial attention  was  attracted  by  a  crowd  of  gaping  rustics  assembled  round  the 
caravan  of  an  itinerant  Polito,  on  which  were  depicted,  in  glowing  colours,  the  va- 
rious animals  contained  within.  The  magistrate  forced  his  way  into  the  crowd,  and 
got  in  front  of  the  caravan  just  as  the  showman,  who  had  been  delivering  to  the 
by-standers  a  long  catalogue  of  attractions,  summed  all  up  by  announcing  a  pair 
of  fine  alligators  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  '  Yalla-gaiters,'  roared  the  ma- 
gistrate, springing  from  his  horse,  and  seizing  the  astonished  showman  by  the  col- 
VOL.  i.  « 


DO  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

lar,  '  you  rascal,  them  is  my  yalla-gaiters ;  give  them  up  to  me  this  minute,  or  if 
you  don't  I'll  cram  you  into  jail,  for  I'm  a  magistrate.'  '  Your  alligators,'  says 
the  astonished  and  affrighted  showman,  «  why  them  there  alligators  were  found  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile.'  '  Found  on  the  banks  of  the  devil,'  said  the  magistrate, 
'  none  of  your  tricks  upon  me,  you  rascal :  I  say  they  were  found  on  the  banks  of 
the  Moy,  and  they  are  my  yalla-gaiters.'  All  the  protestations  of  the  poor  show- 
man as  to  his  innocence  would  probably  have  been  vain,  had  not  a  friend  of  the 
worthy  justice,  who  happened  to  pass  at  the  time,  and  who  was  better  skilled  in 
natural  history,  explained  to  him  his  mistake,  on  which  he  slipped  a  crown  into  the 
hand  of  the  terrified  showman,  and  desired  him  to  say  nothing  about  the  matter." 

By  a  drive  toward  Killala,  upon  the  old  road  leading  from  Ballina  to  that  place, 
the  traveller  finds,  at  a  few  miles  distance,  the  ruins  of  ROSERK  ABBEY,  romantically 
situated  among  the  waving  hills  which  stretch  for  several  miles  below  Ballina,  on 
the  river  Moy.     Two  miles  further  on  lie  the  better  preserved  ruins  of  the  once 
magnificent  ABIJEY  OF  MOYNE,  erected  in  1461.     Even  these,  however,  are  fast 
"  toppling  to  their  fall."      The  abbey  of  Moyne  lies  in  a  sequestered  pastoral  dis- 
trict on  the  banks  of  the  Bay  of  Killala,  and  the  convent  was  watered  by  a  small 
rill,  which,  dipping  into  the  granular  limestone,  rises  again  under  the  abbey.     The 
more  prominent  associations  with  the  country  between  Ballina  and  Killala,  are  those 
connected  with  the  famous  expedition  of  the   French,  under  General  Humbert,  in 
the  Irish  rebellion.     Humbert  landed  at  Killala,  "  with  a  thousand  and  thirty  pri- 
vate soldiers  and  seventy  officers,  from  three  frigate?,  two  of  fifty-four,  and  one  of 
thirty-eight  guns,  which  had  sailed  from  Rochelle  on  the  4th  of  the  same  month, 
with   design  to  invade   the  county  of  Donegal,  in   which  they  were   frustrated  by- 
contrary  winds.     The  garrison  of  Killala,  consisting  of  only  fifty  men,  (of  whom 
thirty  were  yeomen,  the  rest  fencible  soldiers  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  regiment,) 
after  a  vain  attempt  to  oppose  the  entrance  of  the  French  vanguard,  fled  with  pre- 
cipitation, leaving  two  of  their  number  dead   and  their   two   officers   prisoners, 
together  with  nineteen  privates.     To  compensate,  as  far  as  possible  by  the  vigour  of 
his  operations,  for  the  smallness  of  his  numbers,  seems  to  have  been  an  object  with 
the  French  general.     He  sent,  on  the  next  morning,  toward  Ballina,  a  detachment, 
which,  retreating  from  some  picquet  guards  or  reconnoitring  parties  of  loyalists,  led 
them  to  a  bridge,  under  which  lay  concealed  a  Serjeant's  guard  of  French  soldiers. 
By  a  volley  from  these,  a  clergyman  who  had  voluntered  on  the  occasion,  and  two 
carabineers  were  wounded,  the  first  mortally.    This  clergyman  was  the  Rev.  George 
Fortescue,  rector  of  Ballina.     The  French,  advancing  to  this  town,  took  possession 
of  it  in  the  night ;  the  garrison  retreating  to  Foxford,  leaving  one  prisoner,  a  yeo- 
man, in  the  hands  of  the  enemy."    From  Ballina,  Humbert  pushed  on  to  Castlebar, 
where  he  obtained  a  victory  over  the  royalist  troops,  but  he  was  arrested  in  his 


OP  IRELAND. 

I'm  a  magistrate.1      • 

the  bank^  of  the  deril,'  »aid  tlv 

scal:  I  »ay  they  were  <nuud  on  tlte  bank 

All  the  pi-..-if  «t,ittoiM  of  the  poor  show- 
'•Iy  have  been  VIMM   i,*ii  inrt  a  friend  of 
*  at  the  UIIM-.  »%  .   «»»'  i-  skilled  in 

•  '.  v  riK/v  :.•"  «.  •  ip;-i  *  fiuwn  intp  the 
v,\  Mot'.,  n-  tio.Mij  'Uie  luatten." 

•f  R«'  VH^KV,  romanticalK 

!>dmv  BallinH,  on 

J  li»  ii>    better  jireserved  ruins  of  the  once 
:i  thi'se,  however,  are  fasL 
!•«••»  in  a  sequestered  pustoral  dis- 
'   •          vj-nt  w;is  watered  by  a  small 
•ywirt  iimlr-r  the  abbey.     The 
iinil  Killala,  are  those 
iiKivr  i  n-iicnil  Humbert,  in 
•  i  .I.")  thirty  pri- 
v  -!.»u,  ;uid  one  of 
"if  v.mie  tuonth, 
»'cre   ffu.«trated  by 
':y  men,  (of  whom 
.>f  \V,il.  *-,'.<  regiment,) 
^  <I.VIIUM:     ;t,;d  with  pre- 
!-crr»   prisoners, 
i  **  j>'^~         by  the  vigour  of 
.*  to  have  \>  f-n  an  object  with 
-•'««•(*•.  toward   1     'ima,  a  detachment, 
uiuu  ;    thfs  of  loyalists,  led 
LTu.iui   of  French  soldiers. 
•('<!  Dii  tin:  occasion,  and  two 
fb>*  cl»-ivyuiai>  was  the  Rev.  < 
•  ni;  to  this  town,  took  posaeas, 
leaving  «nc 


:  -,  but  he  was  arrested  in  i 


l\ 


.•r  progress  'jy  Lord  Coiuu 
destroyed  or -too  it  ib... 

took  place  soon. after,  is  thus  J 
who  adds  UMffjpme  cur  •  „.<  : 

army,  and  fifteen  after  >i 
at  Killulu,  -uudcj  tliu  con 
day  or  two-later  111  lu-  a;. 
Bishop  of  Killuhi,  coin  LI- 
loyalists  in  that  town.      T* 
tors  of. a  sceiie-ulnd:  tin 
no  person  \viin  ii ..-  so: 


Butenant-Col 
SoiiHi,  the  Ka 


to  come  to  tltc  i 
side  of  the  town 
•hey  had  a  leagtv 
"Thetw^din 


appe 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  67 

further  progress  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  who,  in  a  battle  at  Ballinamuck,  completely 
destroyed  or  took  prisoners  the  whole  French  force.  The  battle  of  Killala,  which 
took  place  soon  after,  is  thus  described  by  one  of  the  historians  of  the  rebellion, 
who  adds  to  it  some  curious  traits  of  the  French  army  and  officers. 

"  On  the  23d  of  September,  thirty-two  days  after  the  landing  of  the  French 
army,  and  fifteen  after  its  capture  at  Ballinamuck,  a  large  body  of  troops  arrived 
at  Killala,  under  the  command  of  Major-General  Trench,  who  would  have  been  a 
day  or  two  later  in  his  arrival,  if  he  had  not  been  hastened  by  a  message  from  the 
Bishop  of  Killala,  concerning  the  extreme  danger  of  his  family,  and  the  rest  of  the 
loyalists  in  that  town.  The  peaceful  inhabitants  of  Killala  were  now  to  be  specta- 
tors of  a  scene  which  they  had  never  expected  to  behold — a  battle — a  fight,  which 
no  person  who  has  seen  it  once,  and  possesses  the  feelings  of  a  human  creature, 
would  choose  to  witness  a  second  time.  A  troop  of  fugitives  in  full  race  from  Bal- 
lina,  women  and  children  tumbling  over  one  another  to  get  into  the  castle,  or  into 
any  house  in  the  town  where  they  might  hope  for  a  momentary  shelter,  continued 
for  a  painful  length  of  time  to  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  an  army. 

"  The  rebels  quitted  their  camp  to  occupy  the  rising  ground  close  by  the  town, 
on  the  road  to  Ballina,  posting  themselves  under  the  low  stone  walls  on  each  side, 
in  such  a  manner  as  enabled  them  with  great  advantage  to  take  aim  at  the  king's 
troops.  They  had  a  strong  guard  also  on  the  other  side  of  the  town,  toward  Fox- 
ford,  having  probably  received  intelligence,  which  was  true,  that  General  Trench 
had  divided  his  forces  at  Crosmalina,  and  sent  one  part  of  them,  by  a  detour  of 
three  miles,  to  intercept  the  fugitives  that  might  take  that  course  in  their  flight. 
This  last  detachment  consisted  chiefly  of  the  Kerry  militia,  under  the  orders  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Crosbie  and  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  the  Knight  of  Kerry ;  their 
colonel,  the  Earl  of  Glandore,  attending  the  general.  It  is  a  circumstance  which 
ought  never  to  be  forgotten  by  the  loyalists  of  Killala,  that  the  Kerry  militia  were 
so  wrought  upon  by  the  exhortations  of  these  two  spirited  officers,  to  lose  no  time 
to  come  to  the  relief  of  their  perishing  friends,  that  they  appeared  on  the  south 
side  of  the  town  at  the  same  instant  with  their  fellows  on  the  opposite  side,  though 
they  had  a  league  more  of  road  to  perform. 

"  The  two  divisions  of  the  royal  army  were  supposed  to  make  up  about  twelve 
hundred  men,  and  they  had  five  pieces  of  cannon.  The  number  of  the  rebels  could 
not  be  ascertained.  Many  ran  away  before  the  engagement,  while  a  very  consider- 
able number  flocked  into  the  town  in  the  very  heat  of  it,  passing  under  the  castle 
windows  in  view  of  the  French  officers  on  horseback,  running  upon  death  with  as 
little  appearance  of  reflection  or  concern,  as  if  they  were  hastening  to  a  show. 
About  four  hundred  of  these  misguided  men  fell  in  the  battle  and  immediately  after 
it ;  whence  it  may  be  conjectured  that  their  entire  number  scarcely  exceeded 


68  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

eight  or  nine  hundred."  To  account  for  so  great  a  slaughter,  we  are  to  observe 
from  the  same  excellent  narrative  from  which  I  have  already  transcribed,  that  they 
met  with  death  on  every  side  where  they  attempted  to  escape  ;  for,  when  driven 
from  their  post  outside  the  town  by  a  flanking  fire  of  the  soldiery,  they  fled  in  all 
directions,  they  were  furiously  pursued  by  the  Roxburgh  cavalry,  who  slaughtered 
many  in  the  streets,  and  were  either  intercepted  at  the  other  end  of  the  town  by  the 
Kerry  militia,  or  directed  their  flight  to  the  shore,  where  also  "  the  fugitives  were 
swept  away  by  scores,  a  cannon  being  placed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay, 
which  did  great  execution." 

The  pursuit  of  the  cavalry  into  the  town  "  was  not  agreeable  to  military  prac- 
tice, according  to  which  it  is  usual  to  commit  the  assault  of  a  town  to  the  infantry  ; 
but  here  the  general  wisely  reversed  the  mode,  in  order  to  prevent  the  rebels,  by  a 
rapid  pursuit,  from  taking  shelter  in  the  houses  of  the  towns-folk,  a  circumstance 
which  was  likely  to  provoke  indiscriminate  slaughter  and  pillage.  The  measure  was 
attended  with  the  desired  success.  A  considerable  number  were  cut  down  in  the 
streets,  and  of  the  remainder  but  a  few  were  able  to  escape  into  the  houses.  Some 
of  the  defeated  rebels,  however,  did  force  their  way  into  houses,  and  by  consequence 
brought  mischief  upon  the  innocent  inhabitants,  without  benefit  to  themselves.  The 
first  house,  after  passing  the  bishop's,  is  that  of  Mr.  William  Kirkwood ;  its  situa- 
tion exposed  it  on  this  occasion  to  peculiar  danger,  as  it  fronts  the  main  street, 
which  was  raked  entirely  by  a  line  of  fire.  A  flying  rebel  had  burst  through  the 
door,  followed  by  six  or  seven  soldiers  ;  they  poured  a  volley  of  musketry  after 
him,  which  proved  fatal  to  Mr.  Andrew  Kirkwood  ;  a  most  loyal  and  respectable 
citizen,  while  he  was  rejoicing  at  the  victory,  and  in  the  very  act  of  shouting  out 
'  God  save  the  king .' '  In  spite  of  the  exertions  of  the  general  and  his  officers, 
the  town  exhibited  all  the  marks  of  a  place  taken  by  storm.  Some  houses  were 
perforated  like  a  riddle :  most  of  them  had  their  doors  and  windows  destroyed  ; 
the  trembling  inhabitants  scarcely  escaping  with  life,  by  lying  prostrate  on  the  floor. 
Nor  was  it  till  the  close  of  next  day  that  their  ears  were  relieved  from  the  horrid 
sound  of  muskets  discharged  every  minute  at  flying  and  powerless  rebels.  The 
plague  of  war  so  often  visits  the  world,  that  we  are  apt  to  listen  to  any  description 
of  it  with  the  indifference  of  satiety  ;  it  is  the  actual  inspection  only  that  shows  the 
monster  in  its  proper  and  full  deformity." 

Intelligence,  activity,  temperance,  and  patience,  to  a  surprising  degree,  appeared 
to  be  combined  in  the  soldiery  that  came  over  with  Humbert,  together  with  the 
exactest  obedience  to  discipline.  Yet,  if  you  except  the  grenadiers,  they  had  no- 
thing to  catch  the  eye.  Their  stature  for  the  most  part  was  low,  their  complexion 
pale  and  sallow,  their  clothes  much  the  worse  for  wear :  to  a  superficial  observer 
they  would  have  appeared  incapable  of  enduring  any  hardship.  These  were  the 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  69 

men.  however,  of  whom  it  was  presently  observed,  that  they  could  be  well  con- 
tent to  live  on  bread  or  potatoes,  to  drink  water,  to  make  the  stones  of  the  street 
their  bed,  and  to  sleep  in  their  clothes,  with  no  covering  but  the  canopy  of 
heaven.  One  half  of  their  number  had  served  in  Italy  under  Buonaparte ;  the  rest 
were  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine,  where  they  had  suffered  distresses  that  well  ac- 
counted for  their  thin  persons  and  wan  looks.  Several  of  them  declared,  with  all 
the  marks  of  sincerity,  that  at  the  siege  of  Mentz,  during  the  preceding  winter,  they 
had  for  a  long  time  slept  on  the  ground  in  holes  made  four  feet  deep  under  the 
snow.  And  an  officer,  pointing  to  his  leather  small-clothes,  assured  the  bishop  that 
he  had  not  taken  them  off  for  a  twelvemonth. 

Humbert,  the  leader  of  this  singular  body  of  men,  was  himself  as  extraordinary 
a  personage  as  any  in  his  army.  Of  a  good  height  and  shape,  in  the  full  vigour  of 
life,  prompt  to  decide,  quick  in  execution,  apparently  master  of  his  art,  you  could 
not  refuse  him  the  praise  of  a  good  officer,  while  his  physiognomy  forbade  you  to 
like  him  as  a  man.  His  eye,  which  was  small  and  sleepy,  (the  effect,  probably,  of 
much  watching,)  cast  a  sidelong  glance  of  insidiousness,  and  even  of  cruelty  :  it 
was  the  eye  of  a  cat  preparing  to  spring  upon  her  prey.  His  education  and  manners 
were  indicative  of  a  person  sprung  from  the  lower  orders  of  society,  though  lie 
knew  how  (as  most  of  his  countrymen  can  do)  to  assume,  where  it  was  convenient, 
the  deportment  of  a  gentleman.  For  learning,  he  had  scarcely  enough  to  enable 
him  to  write  his  name.  His  passions  were  furious,  and  all  his  behaviour  seemed 
marked  with  the  characters  of  roughness  and  violence.  A  narrower  observation  of 
him,  however,  served  to  discover  that  much  of  this  roughness  was  the  result  of  art, 
being  assumed  with  the  view  of  extorting  by  terror  a  ready  compliance  with  his 
commands.  Of  this  truth  the  bishop  himself  was  one  of  the  first  who  had  occa- 
sion to  be  made  sensible,  as  has  been  already  related. 

The  officer  left  by  Humbert  at  Killala,  in  command,  Lieutenant-colonel  Charost, 
had  attained  to  the  age  of  rive-aiid-forty.  He  was  born  in  Paris,  the  son  (as  the 
writer  was  told)  of  a  watch-maker  in  that  city,  who  sent  him  over  early  to  some 
connexions  in  St.  Domingo,  where  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  marry  a  wife  with  a 
plantation  for  her  dowry,  which  yielded  him,  before  the  troubles,  an  income  of  two 
thousand  pounds  sterling  per  annum.  By  the  unhappy  war,  which  still  desolates 
that  island,  he  lost  everything,  even  to  his  wife,  and  his  only  child,  a  daughter;  they 
were  taken  on  their  passage  to  France,  and  sent  away  to  Jamaica.  His  eyes  would 
fill  when  he  told  the  family  that  he  had  not  seen  these  dear  relatives  for  six  years 
past,  nor  even  had  tidings  of  them  for  the  last  three  years.  On  his  return  to  France, 
he  had  embraced  the  military  life,  and  had  risen,  by  due  degrees,  to  the  rank  which 
he  now  filled.  He  had  a  plain,  good  understanding.  He  seemed  careless  or  doubt- 
ful of  revealed  religion,  but  said  that  he  believed  in  God  :  was  inclined  to  think 

VOL.  I.  T 


70  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

there  must  be  a  future  state,  and  was  very  sure  that  while  he  lived  in  this  world,  it 
was  his  duty  to  do  all  the  good  he  could  to  his  fellow-creatures.  Yet  what  he  did 
not  exhibit  in  his  own  conduct,  he  appeared  to  respect  in  others ;  for  he  took 
care  that  no  noise  nor  disturbance  should  be  made  in  the  castle  on  Sundays,  while 
the  family  and  many  Protestants  from  the  town  were  assembled  in  the  library  at 
their  devotions. 

Bondet,  the  next  in  rank  to  the  commandant,  was  a  captain  of  foot,  a  native  of 
Normandy,  twenty-eight  years  of  age.  His  father,  he  said,  was  still  living,  though 
sixty-seven  years  old  when  he  was  born.  His  height  was  six  feet  two  inches.  In 
person,  complexion,  and  gravity  he  was  no  inadequate  representation  of  the  Knight 
of  La  Mancha,  whose  example  he  followed,  in  a  recital  of  his  own  prowess  and 
wonderful  exploits,  delivered  in  a  measured  language,  and  an  imposing  seriousness 
of  aspect.  The  writer  ascribes  to  him  vanity,  pride,  and  an  irascible  temper ;  but 
believed  him  to  have  more  than  an  ordinary  share  of  feeling ;  and  that  his  integrity 
and  courage  appeared  unquestionable ;  and  says,  "  on  the  whole,  when  \ve  became 
familiar  to  his  failings,  we  saw  reason  every  day  to  respect  his  virtues." 

Another  French  officer  described  by  this  writer  was  Ponson,  only  five  feet  and  a 
half  in  stature,  but  actuated  by  an  unremitted  flow  of  animal  spirits,  and  inces- 
santly noisy.  "  He  was  hardy,  and  patient  to  admiration  of  labour  and  want  of 
rest.  A  continued  watching  of  five  days  and  nights  together,  when  the  rebels  were 
growing  desperate  for  prey  and  mischief,  did  not  appear  to  sink  his  spirits  in  the 
smallest  degree.  He  was  strictly  honest,  and  could  not  bear  the  want  of  this 
quality  in  others;  so  that  his  patience  was  pretty  well  tried  by  his  Irish  allies ;"  but 
he  expressed  a  contempt  of  the  forms  of  religion,  to  an  excess  which  is  justly  as- 
cribed to  "  vanity,  the  miserable  affectation  of  appearing  to  be  more  wicked  than  he 
really  was."  A  fifth  officer,  named  True,  is  described  as  a  man  of  brutal  behaviour, 
and  of  an  appearance  corresponding  to  his  character ;  a  front  of  brass,  an  inces- 
sant fraudful  smile,  manners  altogether  vulgar,  and  in  his  dress  and  person  a  neglect 
of  cleanliness  even  beyond  the  affected  negligence  of  republicans. 

The  characters  of  these  officers  may  be  little  interesting  to  some  readers,  but 
they  were  far  from  being  matters  of  no  concern  to  the  inhabitants  of  Killala  and 
its  neighbourhood.  If  they  had  all  been  of  the  same  description  as  True,  or  even 
if  they  had  not  been  men  of  active  humanity,  the  county  of  Mayo  might  have  ex- 
hibited scenes  of  massacre  similar  to  those  of  the  county  of  Wexford ;  since  with- 
out their  exertions  the  Protestants  would  have  been  imprisoned  by  the  rebels  as 
hostages,  on  whom  the  deaths  of  their  associates,  taken  prisoners  and  hanged  by 
the  king's  army,  should  be  retaliated.  Highly  indeed  to  the  honour  of  the  French 
forces  in  general,  the  ingenious  narrator  of  the  transactions  at  Killala,  gives  the 
following  testimony  with  respect  to  the  behaviour  of  Humbert's  army.  "  And 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  71 

here  it  would  be  an  act  of  great  injustice  to  the  excellent  discipline  constantly 
maintained  by  these  invaders,  while  they  remained  in  our  town,  not  to  remark,  that 
with  every  temptation  to  plunder,  which  the  time  and  the  number  of  valuable  arti- 
cles within  their  reach,  presented  to  them  in  the  bishop's  palace,  from  a  sideboard 
of  plate  and  glasses,  a  hall  filled  with  hats,  whips,  and  great-coats,  as  well  of  the 
guests  as  of  the  family,  not  a  single  particular  of  pri.ate  property  was  found  to 
have  been  carried  away,  when  the  owners,  after  the  first  fright  was  over,  came  to 
look  for  their  effects,  which  was  not  for  a  day  or  two  after  the  landing.  Imme- 
diately upon  entering  the  dining-room,  a  French  officer  had  called  for  the  bishop's 
butler,  and  gathering  up  the  spoons  and  glasses,  had  desired  him  to  take  them  to 
his  pantry.  Beside  the  entire  use  of  other  apartments,  during  the  stay  of  the 
French  in  Killala,  the  attic  story,  containing  a  library  and  three  bed-chambers, 
continued  sacred  to  the  bishop  and  his  family.  And  so  scrupulous  was  the  delicacy 
of  the  French  not  to  disturb  the  female  part  of  the  house,  that  not  one  of  them 
was  ever  seen  to  go  higher  than  the  middle  floor,  except  on  the  evening  of  their 
success  at  Castlebar,  when  two  officers  begged  leave  just  to  carry  to  the  family  the 
news  of  the  battle,  and  seemed  a  little  mortified  that  the  intelligence  was  received 
with  an  air  of  dissatisfaction." 

This  army,  however,  so  respectful  of  persons  and  private  property,  had  come  into 
the  kingdom  destitute  of  money  for  the  advancement  of  their  enterprize.  Its 
leaders  promised  that  "  ready  money  was  to  come  over  in  the  ships  expected  every 
day  from  France :  in  the  meantime,  whatever  was  brought  in  voluntarily,  or  taken 
by  necessity,  to  answer  the  occasions  of  the  army,  should  be  punctually  paid  for  in 
drafts  on  the  future  directory  of  Ireland,  of  which  the  owners  of  the  goods  de- 
manded were  courteously  invited  to  accept.  For  the  first  two  or  three  days,  many 
people  did  apply  for  such  drafts  to  the  French  commissary  of  stores,  whose  whole 
time  appeared  to  be  taken  up  with  writing  them.  Indeed  the  bishop  himself  was 
of  opinion  that  the  losers  would  act  wisely  to  accept  of  them,  not,  as  he  told  the 
people,  that  they  would  ever  produce  payment  where  it  was  promised,  but  because 
they  might  serve  as  documents  to  our  own  government,  when,  at  a  future  period,  it 
should  come  to  inquire  into  the  losses  sustained  by  its  loyal  subjects.  The  trouble, 
however,  of  the  commissary,  in  issuing  drafts  on  a  bank  in  prospect,  was  not  of 
long  duration.  The  people  smiled  first,  and  he  joined  himself  in  the  smile  at  last, 
when  he  offered  the  '  airy  security.'  Thus,  though  private  plunder  for  the  emolu- 
ment of  individuals  was  neither  allowed  nor  practised,  yet  the  necessitous  condi- 
tion in  which  this  army  landed,  obliged  its  leaders  to  adopt  this  mode  of  public  re- 
gulated plunder  for  its  subsistence.  If  cash  had  not  been  wanting  to  the  rulers  of 
France,  they  might  be  supposed  to  have  acted  from  policy  in  sending  none  into  a 
country  which  must  remain  hostile,  if  the  invasion  should  prove  abortive;  and 


72  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

which  otherwise  they  might  think,  ought  to  be  obliged  to  sustain  the  expenses  of 
it>  own  revolution." 


X. 

ABOUT  four  miles  from  Ballina  lies  LOCH  CONN,  a  large  sheet  of  water,  not  much 
less  than  fourteen  miles  in  length,  and  varying  in  breadth  from  one  to  three  miles, 
except  at  the  point  of  junction  between  the  upper  and  lower  lakes,  where  the 
breadth  is  contracted  to  the  size  of  a  river.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  Loch  Conn 
regularly  ebbs  and  flows,  though  not  at  periods  corresponding  with  the  tides.  The 
hike  is  situated  considerably  above  the  sea,  and  has  no  tide-communication  with  it. 
The  banks  are,  in  many  parts,  of  fine  sand,  which  shows  the  high-water  line.  The 
shores  of  the  lower  lake  on  the  west  side,  abound  in  little  bays  and  creeks,  and 
show  some  bold  outlines.  The  PONTOON  BRIDGE,  crossing  the  channel  between 
the  upper  and  lower  lakes,  is  a  very  beautiful  spot,  and  the  view  from  the  rocky  hill 
just  above  the  inn  at  this  place,  is  uncommonly  fine. 

From  the  point  of  Castlebar  there  is  little  to  interest  the  traveller  in  search  of 
the  picturesque.  Castlebar  is  a  place  of  some  stir  and  business,  but  having  little  or 
no  attractions  for  the  eye ;  and  few  tourists  stop  longer  in  it  than  to  procure  a  fresh 
car  for  Westport.  After  passing  the  small  but  beautiful  Loch  Dan,  the  road  be- 
gins to  descend  towards  Westport,  and  the  scenery  becomes  exceedingly  attractive. 
In  no  part  of  Ireland,  says  Fraser,  is  there  such  an  extraordinary  combination  of 
scenery  as  is  here  displayed,  nor  is  there  any  town  in  it,  the  view  of  which  strikes 
the  traveller  so  forcibly  as  does  that  of  Westport,  when  first  seen  under  a  favour- 
able light  from  many  parts  of  this  road.  The  country  around  the  town  is  very 
highly  cultivated,  the  bay  stretches  out  before  the  eye,  with  the  town  set  in  its 
curve  like  a  jewel  in  a  tiara,  and  to  the  right  and  left  stretch  away  the  ranges  of 
mountains,  the  majestic  Reek  rising  directly  from  the  shore,  and  towering  nobly 
over  the  surrounding  landscape.  The  town  of  WESTPORT  itself  is  embellished 
with  a  wall  enclosing  a  stream,  and  running  through  the  principal  street,  and  at  the 
further  end  of  this  is  a  gate  entering  to  the  grounds  of  Lord  Sligo,  the  principal 
proprietor  of  the  country.  The  best  hotel  in  the  west  of  Ireland  is  Robinson's,  at 
Westport,  situated  on  the  side  of  the  wall.  The  lofty  eminence  of  the  Reek,  or 
Croagh  Patrick,  which  is  the  conspicuous  feature  of  all  the  views  in  this  neigh- 


•  •.•••  RY  OT  JUELAMU 
think,  ought  •«•  \jf  obliged  to  .-ustam  the  expense*  of 


.  not  much 

lifue  uirle.s, 

where  the 


)Ct\\  I't'll 

•kv  hill 


llltlt-  f>r 

afi^h 


u  -  '.  -.'ly  attiaclive. 

•nibiiiatioii  of 
•  if  which  strikes 
•  .1  under  a  favour- 
:    ilie  town  is  vefy 
.   tlip  town  set  in  its 
'vii.h  away  the  ranges  of 
;   ••<.-,  arid  towering  nobly 
•    \\i>rr..nT   itself  is  embellished 
.£i-  •*!<.•  pr.ncipal  street,  and  at  the 
»nd»  of  Lord  Sligo,  the  principal 
west  of  Ireland  is  Rol. 
t  lofty  eminence  of  the 
ire  ol 


<\ 

^ 


bourhood,  is  cf-lebnt.ted  ;t?  ,i  ]>'.* 
certain  seasons,  ;}re  climbed  by 
stations"  as  they  wcend. 

Just  opposite  We'-tpoTt;  at  tl 
dence  of  the.  ancient  chjeftaifti 
Grana  UaJle.  v  One  squarf  an-.' 
island  'shore.  Of  this  "  hnro  fit- 1 
account.     "  Grace  O'Mral^v. 
daughter  t*f   TVeanhami  (Jn 
<urroundin<.f  (  lf\v  Bay,  :<i -••  • 
called  !)V  the  old  ]>P  • 
•'reat  extent  r>f  c  >-i  i . 


vj  int.r-  \v 


f'irprs  that  abouni 
.in«l  the  way  in  wh:i  i 
li^h  governti'i;nt  :irc'  t'n 
|>oliry,  she  took  to"  her  t 
IB  reason  -to'  siippivse  tlu 
Lout;a  Corrib;  oi  whow  i. 
lust  to  the  Joyces,  by  O* 
hence  Jt  got  the  name  wl 
Re  this  a«  it  may,  Grnr> 
svas  free  to  make 


contract:-    'Rie  marriage  was  !• 

'one  year,  and  if  at  tht  end  ol  th  .:  {.;  rnvl,  i-, 

the.  union  »«•  dtwolved.     It  m  »ici. 

pUt    ll!  ,  r'     ln         ' 

tble  to  her,  un<l  r'-  '    ..y,  as  the 

•*r  Newport,  I".  -• 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  73 

bourhood,  is  celebrated  as  a  place  of  religious  pilgrimage.  Its  sides  and  summit,  at 
certain  seasons,  are  climbed  by  devotees  from  all  parts  of  Ireland,  who  "  perform 
stations"  as  they  ascend. 

Just  opposite  Westport,  at  the  entrance  to  Clew  Bay,  lies  Clare  Island,  the  resi- 
dence of  the  ancient  chieftainess  of  the  county  Mayo  and  its  multitude  of  isles — 
Grana  Uaile.  One  square  and  strong  tower  yet  remains  of  her  stronghold  on  the 
island  shore.  Of  this  "  heroine  of  the  west"  Mr.  Otway  gives  the  following  interesting 
account.  "  Grace  O'Mealey,  which  has  been  corrupted  into  Grana  Uaile,  was  the 
daughter  of  Breanhaun  Crone  O'Maille,  tainst  or  chieftain  of  that  district  of  Mayo 
surrounding  Clew  Bay,  and  comprising  its  multitude  of  isles.  This  district  is  still 
called  by  the  old  people  the  Uisles  of  O'Mealey  ;  and  its  lord,  owning,  as  he  did,  a 
great  extent  of  coast,  and  governing  an  adventurous  sea-faring  people,  had  good 
claim  to  his  motto,  '  TERRA  MARIQUE  POTENS.'  Breanhaun  Crone  O'Maille 
dying  early,  left  a  son  and  daughter — the  son  but  a  child — the  daughter,  just  ripen- 
ing into  womanhood,  seemed  to  have  a  character  suited  to  seize  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, and  rule  over  this  rude  and  brave  people.  Setting  aside,  then,  at  once  the  laws 
of  tanistry,  that  confined  the  rule  to  the  nearest  male  of  the  family,  she  took  upon 
her,  not  only  the  government,  but  the  generalship  of  her  sept,  and  far  exceeded  all 
her  family  in  exploits  as  a  sea-rover ;  and  from  her  success,  whether  as  smuggler  or 
pirate,  as  the  case  might  be,  she  won  the  name  of  Grace  of  the  Heroes.  Acting  in 
this  wild  and  able  way,  she  soon  gathered  round  her  all  the  outlaws  and  adven- 
turers that  abounded  in  the  islands,  and  from  the  daring  strokes  of  policy  she  made, 
and  the  way  in  which  she  bent  to  her  purpose  the  conflicting  interests  of  the  Eng- 
lish government  and  the  Irish  races — she  was  called  the  Gambler.  As  a  matter  of 
policy,  she  took  for  her  first  husband  O'Flaherty,  Prince  of  Comiemara ;  and  there 
is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  grey  mare  proving  the  better  horse,  the  castle  ir 
Lough  Corrib,  of  whose  traditional  history  notice  has  been  already  taken,  was  nearl) 
lost  to  the  Joyces,  by  O'Flaherty  the  Cock,  but  was  saved  and  kept  by  Grana  the  Hen, 
hence  it  got  the  name  which  it  still  keeps  of  Krishlane  na  Kirca — the  Hen's  Castle 
Be  this  as  it  may,  Grana's  husband,  the  Prince  of  Connemara,  dying  soon,  she 
was  free  to  make  another  connexion,  and  in  this  also  she  seems  to  have  consulted 
more  her  politics  than  her  affections,  and  became  the  wife  of  Sir  Richard  Bourke, 
the  M'William  Eighter.  Tradition  hands  down  a  singular  item  of  the  marriage 
contract.  The  marriage  was  to  last  for  certain  (what  said  the  pope  to  this  ?)  but 
one  year,  and  if  at  the  end  of  that  period,  either  said  to  the  other  '  I  dismiss  you,' 
the  union  was  dissolved.  It  is  said,  that  during  that  year  Grana  took  good  care  to 
put  her  own  creatures  into  garrison  in  all  M'William's  eastward  castles  that  were 
valuable  to  her,  and  then,  one  fine  day,  as  the  Lord  of  Mayo  was  coming  up  to  the 
castle  of  Corrig-a-Howly,  near  Newport,  Grana  spied  him,  and  cried  out  the  dis- 

VOL.  i.  u 


74  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

solving  words — '  I  dismiss  you.'     We  are  not  told  how  M'William  took  the  snap- 
ping of  the  matrimonial  chain ;  it  is  likely  that  he  was  not  sorry  to  have  a  sale 
riddance  of  such  a  virago.      We  shortly  after  this  find  Grana  siding  with  Sir 
Richard  Bingham  against  the  Bourkes,  and  doing  battle  with  the  English.     The 
O'Mealeys,  on  this  occasion,  turned  the  fortune  of  the  day  in  favour  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  Connaught,  and  most  of  the  M'William  leaders  being  taken  prisoners,  six 
of  them  were  hanged  next  day  at  Cloghan    Lucas,  '  in  order  to  strengthen  the 
English  interest.'     It  is  probable  that  it  was  in  gratitude  for  this  signal  aid  afforded 
to  her  lieutenant,  that  Queen  Elizabeth  invited  Grana  over  to  the  English  court ; 
;md  it  certainly  confirms  the  Irishwoman's  character  for  decision  and  firmness,  that 
she  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  Saxou,  of  whose  faithfulness  the  Irish  nation  had 
but  a  low  opinion.     Accordingly  Grana  sailed   from  Clare   Island,  and  before  she 
arrived  at  the  port  of  Chester  was  delivered  of  a  son,  the  issue  of  the  marriage  with 
M'William  Eighter.     He  being  born  on  ship-board,  was  hence  named  Tohaduah  na 
Lung,  or  Toby  of  the  Ship,  from  whom  sprung  the  Viscounts  Mayo.     It  must  have 
been  a  curious  scene,  the  interview  at  Hampton  Court  between  the  wild  woman  of 
the  west,  and  the  'awe-commanding,  lion-ported'  Elizabeth.     Fancy  Grana,  in  her 
loose  attire,  consisting  of  a  chemise,  containing  thirty  yards  of  yellow  linen,  wound 
round  her  body,  with  a  mantle  of  frieze,  coloured  madder-red,  flung  over  one  shoul- 
der, with  her  wild   hair  twisted  round  a  large  golden  pin  as  her  only  head-gear, 
standing  with  her  red  legs  unstockinged,  and  her  broad  feet  unshod,  before  the  stiff 
and  stately  Tudor,  dressed  out  (as  we  see  her  represented   in   the  portraits  of  that 
day)  with  stays,  stomacher,  and  farthingale,  cased  like  an  impregnable  armadillo — 
what  a  'tableau  vivant'  this  must  have  been!  and  then   Grana,  having  made  a 
bow,  and  held  out  her  bony  hand,  horny  as  it  was,  with  many  an  oar  she  had  hand- 
led, and  many  a  helm  she  had  held,  to  sister  Elizabeth,  (as  she  called  her,)  sat 
down  with  as  much   self-possession  and  self-respect  as  an  American   Indian  chief 
would  now  before  the  president  of  the  United  States.    Elizabeth,  observing  Grana's 
fondness  for  snuff,  which,  though  a  practice  newly  introduced,  she  had  picked  up  in 
her  smuggling  enterprises,  and  perceiving  her  inconvenienced,  as  snuffers  usually 
are  when  wanting  a  pocket-handkerchief,  presented  her  with  one  richly  embroi- 
dered, which  Grana  took  indifferently,  used  it  loudly,  and  cast  it  away  carelessly, 
and  when  asked  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  why  she  treated  the  gift  of  her  majesty  in 
such  a  way,  the  answer  of  the  wild  Irish  girl  was  of  that  coarseness  that  ought  not 
to  be  read  by  eyes  polite.      Moreover,  it  seems  Elizabeth  was  not  happy  in  the 
presents  which  she  proffered   to  the  Vanathess ;  she  ordered  a  lap-dog,  led  by  a 
silken  band,  to  be  given  to  her.      '  What's  this  for?'  says  Grana.     '  Oh,  it  is  a 
sagacious,  playful,  faithful  little  creature,  it  will  lie  in  your  lap.'      '  My  lap  ! '  says 
Grana;  "  it's  little  the  likes  of  me  would  be  doing  with  such  a  thing  :--keep  it  to 


SCRXBKY    OC    1KELAND. 

We  are  not  told  how  M'  William  took  the  snap- 

niai  chain  ;  it  J8  likely  that  Ik-  W*B  not  sorry  to  have  a  sale 

:  We   short  I  v  »ftn    t*u«   hnd  Grana  siding  with  Sir 

tattle  with  the  English,     the 

"  **  'l«t  Oheday  in  favour  r/  the  Presi- 

Liicas,  •  io  ord'ir  to  strengthen  the 

't.M  signal  aid  afibrded 

•  *h  court  ; 

tirmnestt,  that 

•'  (tatioa  had 

iMi'i,  and  belore  she 

isiie  •>!'  tie  marriage  witli 

•  •«-ncd  Tohaduah  na 

It  must  have 

*-~ild  woman  of 

'•.  \  t  -ratia,  in  her 

'inci'i,  wound 

:)•-•  shoul- 


jrii-dits  of  that 
le  armadillo  — 


-•;        -\i'-(\  her,)  sat 
.Ti.-ta   Indian  chief 
j,    i  -serving  Grana's 
In  had  picked  up  in 
as  snuffers  usually 
one  richly  f.mbroi- 
it  away  carelessly, 
ft  of  her  majesty  in 
'vsrseness  that  ought  not 
ilizabeth  was  not  happy  in  the 
MlteM  ;  .he  ordered  a  lap-dog,  Jed  by  a 
MK.   lor?'  say-  '  Qh,  it 

*ill  li<   in  your  la;  ,ay8 

doing  vvith   such  a  thing  :--k 


u 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  75 

yourself,  Queen  of  the  English,  it  is  only  fit  for  such  idlers  as  you : — you  may,  if  it 
likes  you,  fool  away  your  day  with  such  vermin.'  '  Oh,  but,'  says  Elizabeth, 
'  Grana,  you  are  mistaken,  I  am  not  idle ;  I  have  the  care  of  this  great  nation  on 
my  shoulders.'  '  May  be  so,'  says  Grana,  '  but  as  far  as  I  can  see  of  your 
ways,  there's  many  a  poor  creature  in  Mayo,  who  has  only  the  care  of  a  barley- 
field,  has  more  industry  about  them  than  you  seem  to  have.'  Of  course,  Elizabeth 
dismissed  her  soon :  she  offered,  at  her  last  audience,  to  create  her  a  countess.  '  I 
don't  want  your  titles,'  says  Grana,  '  arn't  we  both  equals  ?  if  there  be  any  good 
in  the  thing,  I  may  as  well  make  you  one  as  you  me.  Queen  of  England,  I  want 
nothing  from  you — enough  for  me  it  is  to  be  at  the  head  of  my  nation  ;  but  you 
may  do  what  you  like  with  my  little  son,  Toby  of  the  Ship,  who  has  Saxon  blood 
in  his  veins,  and  may  not  be  dishonoured  by  a  Saxon  title : — I  will  remain  as  I  am, 
Grana  O'Maille  of  the  Uisles.'  It  was  on  her  return  from  England,  and  when 
driven  by  stress  of  weather  into  the  small  harbour  of  Howth,  that  the  often-told 
circumstance  occurred  respecting  her  abduction  of  the  young  St.  Lawrence.  Land- 
ing from  her  vessel,  she  and  some  of  her  followers  proceeded  to  the  castle  and  de- 
manded admission,  but  were  refused,  on  the  ground  that  the  noble  owner  was  at 
his  dinner  and  could  not  be  disturbed.  '  Oh,  the  Saxon  churl !'  says  Grana,  '  it's 
well  seen  he  has  not  a  drop  of  Irish  blood  in  his  big  body  ;  but  he  shall  smart  for 
it.'  And  so  he  did,  for  Grana,  on  her  return  to  her  vessel,  entering  into  a  com- 
fortable cottage,  and  finding  therein  a  beautiful  boy,  the  eldest  son  of  the  baron, 
(who  was  out  at  nurse,  according  to  the  Irish  fashion,)  she  carried  him  off,  and 
brought  him  with  her  to  her  western  land,  where  she  kept  him  many  a  day,  and  did 
not  restore  him,  until,  besides  receiving  a  large  ransom,  she  made  the  stipulation 
that  whenever  a  Lord  of  Howth  sat  at  his  dinner,  his  doors  should  remain  open  for 
the  admission  of  all  strangers.  It  is  said  that  the  St.  Lawrences  have  kept  to  the 
covenant  ever  since  ;  if  so,  the  observance  in  its  spirit  of  open  hospitality  may  ex- 
plain why  the  lords  of  Howth  are  not  the  wealthiest  of  our  nobility.  Grana  con- 
tinued on  her  return  to  strengthen  her  power,  and  had  strongholds  guarding  all  the 
harbours  along  the  coast  of  Mayo  ;  and  so  active  and  vigilant  was  she,  that  it  is 
said  that  in  her  castle  at  Clare  Island,  where  her  swiftest  vessels  were  stationed, 
the  cable  of  her  chief  galley  was  passed  through  a  hole  made  for  that  purpose  in 
the  wall,  and  fastened  to  her  bed-post,  in  order  that  she  might  be  the  more  readily 
alarmed  in  case  of  an  attempted  surprise.  At  her  death  it  would  appear  that  the 
power  which  was  but  concentrated  by  individual  vigour  and  ability,  dissolved  with 
the  spirit  that  gave  jt  energy." 

From  Westport  to  the  HEAD  OF  KILLEHY  HARBOUR,  the  road  follows  the  coast, 
presenting  fine  views  of  the  island  of  Grana  Uaile  and  the  opposite  shores  of 
Achill.  The  country  commencing  here,  and  lying  immediately  south,  is  inhabited  by 


76  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

a  "  race  of  giants,"  the  Joyces,  who  have  given  their  name  to  a  large  district.  Jack 
Joyce  is  its  reigning  king,  and  a  visit  to  this  personage  is  a  necessary  part  of  every 
western  tour.  Mr.  Inglis  says,  "  the  Joyces  are  a  large  race,  but  Jack  Joyce  is 
huge,  even  among  ihem.  He  is  as  near  akin  to  a  giant  as  a  man  can  well  be  with- 
out being  every  bit  a  giant.  In  height,  breadth,  muscle,  and  general  aspect,  he  is 
like  a  man — if  not  of  another  race — the  descendant  of  another  race.  Jack  Joyce 
looks  upon  himself  as  the  greatest  man  for  many  a  mile  round  ;  as  a  sort  of  king 
of  that  country,  Joyce's  country,  as  indeed  he  is.  King  Dan  is  a  very  inferior 
person  to  him  there.  But  beware,  reader !  and  address  this  individual  in  some 
phraseology  more  respectful  than  by  the  name  he  commonly  bears.  The  salutation 
'  How  are  you,  Jack  !  or  Jack  Joyce,  my  fine  fellow,  how  do  you  do?'  might  be 
followed  by  an  uncourteous  reception.  But  Jack  Joyce  is  really  worth  conversing 
with  ;  he  is  a  shrewed,  intelligent,  plain-spoken  man ;  but  not,  of  course,  induced 
to  favour  with  his  conversation  those  who  do  not  pay  him  the  respect  to  which  he 
thinks  himself  entitled  "  Perhaps  a  fairer  judgment  of  Joyce's  proportions  may 
be  got  from  a  writer  who  is  himself  of  a  height  and  size  which  might,  in  his  youth- 
ful days,  have  fitted  him  to  be  an  "  ugly  customer"  to  Jack,  the  author  of  the 
Tour  in  Connaught.  He  thus  describes  his  visit  to  the  giant. 

"  I  was  determined  to  go  and  renew  my  acquaintance  with  my  big  friend,  whom 
twelve  years  ago  I  found  in  all  his  might  and  glory  as  '  mine  host,'  at  the  head  of 
the  Killery — so  I  drove  up  to  Jack's  door,  and  enquired  for  Mr.  Joyce,  and  was  an- 
swered by  a  renj  tall  young  woman,  not  uncomely,  who  informed  me  that  Mr. 
Joyce  was  within,  but  that  as  he  had  been  out  all  night  after  cattle  on  the  hills,  he 
was  on  the  bed  asleep,  but  his  daughter  (for  such  she  was)  said,  that  if  I  desired 
it  she  would  call  him.  I  certainly  did  not  like  to  go  away  without  seeing  BIG  Jack, 
so  he  was  called  up,  and  as  he  came,  loose,  unclean,  and  frouzy,  certainly  my  giant 
did  not  appear  to  advantage  ;  for,  some  how  or  other,  I  had  let  my  imagination 
play  the  rogue  with  my  judgment,  and  magnify  ruy  retrospect  with  regard  to  this 
man. 

"  The  first  time  I  saw  him,  (as  I  say,)  about  twelve  years  ago,  he  made  his  ap- 
pearance just  as  I  drove  up  to  his  door,  bouncing  over  the  wall  that  divided  the 
potato-garden  from  the  front  of  his  house,  and,  I  think,  a  finer  specimen  of  a  strong 
man,  tall  and  yet  well-proportioned,  I  could  not  conceive.  Such  do  not  look  a« 
tall  as  they  really  are.  The  great  bullet-head,  covered  with  crisp  curls,  the  short 
bull-neck,  the  broad,  square  shoulders,  the  massive  chest  all  open  and  hirsute,  the 
comparatively  small  sinewy  loins,  and  pillar-like  limbs,  all  bone  and  muscle.  Milo, 
of  Crotona,  might  have  shaken  hands  with  him  as  a  brother,  and  the  gifted  sculptor 
of  the  Farnese  Hercules  might  have  selected  J  ack  as  his  lay-figure.  Such  was  my 
beau  ideal  of  Mr.  Joyce,  from  what  I  recollected  of  him  since  my  former  visit. 


SCENEUY    OF   IRELAND.  77 

But  now,  though  I  acknowledged  the  identity,  yet  certainly  the  man  was  greatly 
changed— but  still,  though  I  am  sure  my  fancy  had  been  playing  tricks,  he  yet  was 
tall,  stout,  and  able;  but  I  am  sure  I  know  fifty  English  and  Irishmen  just  as  large. 
Having  called  for  some  liquor— reader,  I  hope  you  will  believe  me,  not  to  drink, 
but  just  to  put  mine  host  in  good  humour — Jack  and  I  got  into  chat,  and,  to  be 
sure,  he  was  full  of  the  hard  usage  of  the  attorney  who  had  put  him  out  of  Lee- 
nane ;  but  he  said  he  had  got  where  he  was  a  large  and  good  farm,  and  all  he 
wished  was  to  see  the  head  landlord,  the  provost  of  Trinity  College,  who  was 
cheated  entirely,  entirely,  by  his  middlemen,  sucli  as  attorney  R— —  and  others  ; 
but  if  he  could  but  once  get  a  sight  of  his  great  reverence,  he  would  show  him  how 
acres,  and  hundreds  of  acres  are  kept  from  him. 

"  Upon  acquainting  him  that  I  had  the  honour  of  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  ffrcate.it  of  all  possible  men,  EXCEPT  LORD  LEITRIM,  you  may  suppose  he  was 
mighty  civil ;  and  taking  advantage  of  that  desire  to  please,  I  endeavoured  to  get 
from  him  an  account  of  his  family,  but  lie  really  could  not  tell  anything  about 
them:  he  seemed  to  think  that  size  was  not  so  much  the  characteristic  of  the  tribe 
or  name  as  of  his  own  immediate  family  ;  and  to  show  me  that  he  had  not  been 
the  means  of  any  degeneracy,  he  whistled  to  his  son,  who  was  in  a  distant  field, 
who  came  at  the  call,  and  certainly  a  taller  and  more  comely  stripling,  of  about 
twenty  years  of  age,  I  have  not  seen.  He  was  at  least  six  feet  four  inches  in 
height,  and  I  am  sure,  if  fed  on  animal  food  as  an  English  fanner's  son  would  be, 
he  would  prove  a  grand  specimen  of  the  human  race.  I  left  big  Jack  and  his  biy 
family,  receiving  from  them  a  thousand  thanks  'or  promising  to  introduce  him  to 
the  notice  of  the  new  provost. 

"  On  my  road  towards  Leenane,  I  met  some  persons  with  whom  I  entered  into  con- 
versation about  the  neighbourhood,  and  about  Jack  Joyce.  I  found  that  he  was 
not  a  favourite,  that  he  was  too  apt  to  resort  to  his  strength  to  settle  disputes,  when 
the  fist  he  threw  into  the  balance  made  the  scale  descend  in  his  own  favour.  In- 
deed, he  acknowledged  to  me  on  a  former  visit,  that,  as  a  justice  of  the  peace  was 
a  great  way  off,  he  used  to  settle  differences  amongst  the  neighbours  by  taking  the 
parties  at  variance  by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  and  battering  their  heads  together  until 
they  consented  to  shake  hands  and  drink  a  pint  of  pottecn  together,  which,  of 
course,  it  was  Jack's  office  to  furnish  for  a  consideration." 

The  author  of  this  clever  book  will  excuse  us  for  extending  our  extract  to 
the  description  of  the  scenery  he  noticed  on  his  return  from  the  visit  to  the 
Joyces. 

"  The  descent  is  very  rapid  from  the  high  grounds,  on  which  Jack  Joyce's  new 
farm  and  public-house  are  situated,  to  the  Killery  Bay,  and  the  inn  of  Leenane.  As 
you  descend,  by  a  very  good  road,  there  are  noble  mountain-views,  and  the  long 

VOL.  I.  X 


78  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

Killery,  stretching  its  dark  and  deep-cut  line  through  the  mountains,  was  certainly 
a  fine  sight,  and  very  unlike  anything  I  have  seen  elsewhere  in  the  island ;  not, 
perhaps,  presenting  so  grand  a  prospect  as  either  Bantry  Bay  or  Lough  Swilly,  but 
it  has  features  all  its  own.  About  either  of  these  fine  estuaries  there  appears  some- 
thing that  man  has  done — man  has  some  share  in  the  decoration,  or  even  grandeur 
of  the  scene :  but  here  at  the  Killery  man  and  his  works  are  out  of  the  question  ;  no 
sail  upon  the  waters;  no  cultivation  along  the  shore;  all  as  rough  nature  has  left 
it ;  even  trees  seem  out  of  character  with  the  place ;  and  there  is  the  deep  bay,  and 
there  are  the  high  mountains  all  around,  the  same,  we  may  suppose,  as  when  the 
first  sea-rover  turned  inwards  his  prow  for  shelter  or  curiosity,  and  sought,  and  that 
in  vain,  for  something  that  marked  the  occupation  and  dominion  of  man. 

"  Some  have  said  that  Killery  Bay  is  like  a  Norwegian  fiord.  Never  having  been 
in  the  Scandinavian  peninsula  I  cannot  decidedly  contradict;  but  it  certainly  does 
not  meet  my  idea  of  a  fiord,  which  supposes  pine-crowded  precipices  hanging  and 
frowning  over  the  deep  blue  wave  ;  but  this  is  not  the  case  here;  perfectly  bare  of 
any  timber,  the  mountains,  though  rising  all  around,  and  assuming  all  manner  of 
outlines,  yet  shelve  gradually  down  to  the  shore,  and  I  would  say,  that  the  charac- 
ter of  the  place  is  not  sublime  but  savage." 

We  arrived  in  good  time  at  LEENANE,  and  found  the  new  owner,  or  rather  renter, 
a  civil  but  inexperienced  woman,  who  had  lately  taken  possession,  and  who  com- 
plained bitterly  of  her  landlord,  who  had  promised  to  put  the  house  in  good  repair, 
and  make  it  sufficiently  decent  to  induce  travellers  to  stop  with  her.  This  it  was 
evident  he  had  not  done,  and  I  was  ready  to  partake  in  her  vexation  on  observing 
the  nice  furniture  and  other  accommodations  intended  for  a  good  inn,  stowed  away 
in  such  a  truly  uncomfortable  and  dirty  house.  Having  bespoke  our  dinner,  we 
expressed  a  desire  to  go  by  boat  to  see  Lord  Sligo's  SPOKTIKG-LODGE  AT  DELPHI; 
and  here  it  was  well  that  we  asked  the  price  before  engaging  it,  for  the  landlady, 
in  order,  perhaps,  to  compensate  as  she  might  for  her  as  yet  unsuccessful  specu- 
lation, demanded  more  for  a  vile,  dirty,  leaky,  brute  of  a  boat,  than  we  should  have 
paid  for  the  hire  of  one  of  the  gayest  and  best-appointed  cutters  in  Kingston  har- 
bour. However,  by  appearing  to  care  little  whether  we  should  go  or  not,  we  by- 
aud-by  agreed  on  more  reasonable  terms,  and  went  afloat.  It  was  also  well  that 
the  water  was  smooth,  for  the  boat  was  not  only  leaky  and  heavy,  but  the  fellows 
that  undertook  to  row  us  seemed  anything  but  expert.  They  were  uncouth,  savage 
creatures ;  the  elder  of  the  two  knew  but  little  English,  and  the  other  none  at  all, 
and  they  both  seemed  discontented  and  very  much  out  of  humour  at  being  obliged 
to  leave  their  potato-planting  to  go  rowing  a  pair  of  idle  Sassenach  fools,  as  they 
evidently  considered  us  to  be. 

I  consider  myself  well  paid  for  this  boating  excursion.     Nothing  can  be  finer 


111 


J 


3k 


little  above 
tains  the 

• 

ivemeuts  in  th 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  79 

than  the  mountain-scenery  all  around.  When  you  are  in  the  middle  of  the  bay 
you  seem  locked  in  on  every  side,  and  were  it  not  for  the  smell,  and  colour,  and 
vegetation  peculiar  to  the  sea,  the  incomparable  sea,  you  would  imagine  you  were 
on  a  mountain-lake.  But  there  is  scarcely  any  lake  that  has  not  a  flat,  tame  end, 
generally  that  where  the  superabundant  waters  flow  off  and  form  a  river ;  but  here 
nothing  was  tame ;  on  every  side  the  magnificent  mountains  seemed  to  vie  with 
each  other  which  should  catch  and  keep  your  attention  most.  Northwards  the 
Fenamore  mountains — the  Partree  range  to  the  east — Maamturc  to  the  south — a  little 
more  to  the  south-west,  the  sparkling  cones  of  the  Twelve  Pins  of  Binabola ;  then, 
a  little  more  to  the  west,  the  Renvyle  mountain,  and  off  to  the  north  of  that  again, 
the  monarch  of  the  whole  amphitheatre,  Muilrea,  with  its  cap  of  clouds  that  it  has 
caught,  and  anon  flings  fitfully  off,  as  much  as  to  say,  I  am  the  great  cloud-com- 
peller of  Europe,  and  not  one  of  you,  ye  proud  rangers  of  the  sky,  shall  come  from 
the  banks  of  Newfoundland  without  paying  me  tribute;  and,  no  doubt  ample  tribute 
they  do  pay,  and  we  had  every  reason  to  be  fearful  of  partaking  in  the  results  of 
Mr.  Muilrea  tapping  the  American  ;  but  the  alarm  was  false,  the  clouds  only  slowly 
rolled  their  huge  masses  along  the  topmost  ranges,  and  we  could  see  in  their  clear 
glory  all  the  inferior  hills  as  they  rejoiced  in  the  lights  and  shadows  of  the  uncer- 
tain day. 

After  a  row  of  more  than  an  hour,  we  landed  at  the  little  pier  at  the  entrance  of 
the  river  Bondarragh,  and  passing  a  small  fishing-village,  we  went  along  the  river 
for  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  until  we  reached  this  much-talked-of  lodge  of  Delphi. 
Was  it  called  so  from  any  fancied  resemblance  to  the  oracular  mountain  in  Greece? 
As  far  as  a  picture  can  give  an  idea  of  scenery,  I  have  some  notion  of  the  far- 
famed  throne  of  the  solar  god,  but  I  could  trace  no  similarity.  I  confess,  alto- 
gether, I  was  greatly  disappointed  in  this  place.  I  think  the  mountains  fine ;  I 
consider  the  sides  of  the  hills,  as  they  rise  from  the  little  lake,  singularly  pictur- 
esque and  beautiful ;  for  as  the  ranges  of  rock  ascend,  they  assume  a  tortuous  and 
wavy  form,  and  between  each  wave  of  the  uprising  stratification,  the  fresh  green  grass 
of  the  young  summer  seemed  to  grow  luxuriantly  ;  there  were  then  before  you,  as  in 
manifold  variegations,  the  green  and  the  grey,  tinting  the  whole  sides  of  the  moun- 
tains. There  are  two  lakes  in  the  valley,  one  close  by  the  lodge,  and  the  vale,  a 
little  above  the  small  pleasure-ground,  taking  a  turn  at  nearly  right-angles,  con- 
tains the  other.  By  ascending  a  green  eminence  you  can  see  both  lakes  ;  the  upper 
and  larger  one,  drawing  its  waters  from  the  magnificent  Muilrea,  must  present  sub- 
lime views  of  the  gorges  of  that  noble  mountain.  I  greatly  regret  that  I  had  no 
time  or  opportunity  to  proceed  along  its  banks.  Having  seen  earls'  and  dukes'  im- 
provements in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  England,  and  Wales,  and  what  wonders 
in  the  way  of  planting  have  been  done  by  Lords  Fife,  and  Athol,  and  Breadalbane, 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 


I  expected  that  this  Irish  nobleman,  having  this  great  mountain-district  to  himself, 
would  have  filled  the  glens  and  clothed  the  sides  of  the  hills  with  his  plantations,  and 
that  I  should  have  seen  masses  of  timber,  becoming  the  purse  and  great  mind  of  a 
most  noble  marquis  ;  but  it  was  no  such  thing.  I  think,  that  if  a  Dublin  pawn- 
broker had  got  possession  of  this  valley,  he  would  have  stuck  down  about  as  many 
firs,  and  larches,  and  alders,  and  erected  about  as  tasty  a  cottage,  and  decorated  it  with 
about  as  ornamental  a  verandah,  which,  by-the-by,  is  going  fast  to  ruin,  and  that  is 
not  extraordinary,  as  the  most  "  puissant"  owner  every  year  lets  it  to  certain  sport- 
ing lodgers,  and,  perhaps  in  imitation  of  some  Italian  marchese,  makes  the  fish- 
ino-  and  shooting  of  this  place  a  means  of  increasing  his  revenue. 

Altogether  respecting  this  show-place,  I  may  say  nature's  work  is  grand,  and 
man's  work  pitiful  ;  and  I  think  it  is  worthy  of  the  improvement,  that  it  should  be 
let  furnished,  with  the  grass  of  a  cow  I  year  after  year. 

I  have  heard  it  said,  that  in  certain  hot  summers,  residence  here  is  made  almost 
intolerable  by  insects  larger  than  midges,  but  not  quite  the  size  of  musquitoes,  that 
bite  bitterly,  and  make  you  wish  by  night  for  gauze  curtains. 

Having  got  as  good  a  dinner  as  hungry  tourists  need  desire  at  the  inn  of  Leenane, 
we  proceeded  in  the  evening  to  Westport,  going  along  the  valley  through  which  the 
Owen  Erive  river  runs,  and  falling  over  many  pretty  cascades,  feeds  the  head  of 
the  bay.  This  road  is  well  laid  out,  is  in  excellent  repair,  and  offers,  I  think,  a 
succession  of  as  fine  mountain-views  as  are  in  Ireland  ;  here  dark  and  deep  gorges, 
there,  a  bold,  bare  bulwark  of  a  hill,  presenting  his  huge  shoulder  —  and  now  a  long, 
deep,  quiet  glen,  with  its  green  sides  covered  with  flocks  ;  and  the  bleating  of  the 
lambs  as  they  seek  their  dams  along  the  ravines  and  precipices  breaks  sweetly  on 
the  lonely  silence  of  all  around,  and  gives  a  pastoral  character  to  the  district.  The 
evening  was  peculiarly  serene,  the  Partree  hills  (and,  indeed,  it  is  a  noble  chain,  of 
great  and  singular  variety,)  were  covered  with  light  flocculent  clouds,  that  under 
the  tintings  of  the  declining  sun  seemed  as  intended  for  a  clothing  of  wrought  gold, 
a  raiment  of  heaven's  own  panoply,  and  so  transparent  was  it,  that  every  grey  pre- 
cipice and  every  beetling  quartzose  rock  smiled  in  its  turn  under  the  sunshine  as 
they  were  now  revealed,  and  again  veiled,  by  the  golden-fringed  clouds  that  moved 
so  gently,  so  gracefully  up  the  hill-sides,  and  then  passed  away  in  splendid  masses 
eastward. 

We  just  got  out  of  this  fine  mountain  country,  and  the  sun  was  setting  as  we 
descended  into  Westport. 


SCKXERY    OP    in  El 


man,  having  this  great  mountain-district  to  himself, 


clothed  the  sides  of  tl 

<>f  timber,  becomii 

f-  no  sueh  thing.     1 


t  with  his  plantations,  and 
•iree  ,  nd  grt>;it  mind  of  a 
that  it  a  Dubfin  pawn- 
»»ck  down  about  as  many 
»g*,ari(]  decorated  it  vvitli 

<V$t  to  ruin,  and  ti 
u  lets  ii  to  certain  sport- 
Hrcheso,  makes  the  fish- 

B^and,  and 
..  that  it  should  be 

"<!  is  made  almost 
«.:  ol  iiiu--(|iiit(ies,  that 

'..•(:  inn  of  Leeiume, 

.11-;   (hroiigli  which  the 

-"'•  •-.   tiriij,  the  head  of 

r,  .n-1   offers,  I  think,  a 

k  ur-.i!  <](•(.},  j-orges, 


a-:,ks  sweetly  on 

tu  th,-'..!i strict.    The 

s  :i  noble  chain,  of 

'  ••njpnt  •  Vuids,  that  under 

i  .  '.niun.  ..f  wrought  gold, 

:;'at  every  grey  pi-e- 

.r.  ii-r  the  sunshine  as 

^  d  cloud»  that  moved 

I  »w:iy  m  splendid  masse* 

and  the  sun  was  setting  as  we 


1 


-I 


QJ 


CONSEMAB 

it--  <t'el'.if!'-i. 


roken  Op*  f) 


ik>wn  to  t 
hntit  it  mi 


VOL.  I 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  81 


XI. 

CONNEMAEA  is  rich  in  scenes  of  wild  grandeur  and  beauty,  but  it  has  nothing  in 
its  secluded  recesses  more  sublime  and  lovely  than  the  LAKE  OF  KYLEMORE.  It 
is  very  small,  not  more  than  two  miles  in  length,  and  its  shores  are  better  wooded 
than  most  of  the  neighbouring  country.  The  horizon  from  every  part  of  this  lake  is 
nobly  broken  up  by  mountains — Maam  Turc,  EAGLE  MOUNTAIN,  and  other  fine 
eminences  breaking  its  low  line  in  every  direction.  From  Kylemore  to  Clifden  the 
road  follows  the  tortuous  windings  of  mountain-valleys,  and  skirting  the  base  of 
the  Twelve  Pins,  developes  the  finest  variety  of  wild  scenery  in  all  Ireland.  Clifden 
itself  stands  at  the  head  of  a  narrow  inlet  of  the  sea,  and  the  views  of  it  from  the 
eminences  around  are  singularly  fine.  It  has  arisen  something  after  the  fashion  of 
an  American  town,  having  attained  its  present  growth  in  less  than  twenty  years,  and 
containing  two  or  three  streets,  a  chapel,  a  church,  school-house,  inn,  &c.  Twenty 
years  ago  not  a  house  stood  on  its  site.  It  is  the  property  of  Mr.  D'Arcv,  whose 
residence  is  Clifden  Castle,  two  miles  from  the  town  ;  he  has  the  merit  of  having 
founded  the  town.  "  He  pointed  out,"  says  Inglis,  "  the  advantages  which  would 
accrue  to  this  remote  neighbourhood  from  having  a  town  and  a  sea-port  so  situated  ; 
and  he  offered  leases  for  ever,  together  with  four  acres  of  mountain-land,  at  but  a 
short  distance  from  the  proposed  site  of  the  town,  at  twenty-five  shillings  per  annum. 
This  offer  was  most  advantageous,  even  leaving  out  of  account  the  benefit  which 
would  necessarily  be  conferred  by  a  town  on  a  district  where  the  common  necessaries 
of  life  had  to  be  purchased  thirty  miles  distant,  and  where  there  was  no  market, 
and  no  means  of  export  for  agricultural  produce,  and  so  the  town  of  Clifden  was 
founded  and  grew."  One  of  the  most  beautiful  walks  in  Ireland  is  the  two  miles 
from  the  town  to  Clifden  Castle.  The  path  runs  by  the  edge  of  a  long  narrow 
inlet,  the  banks  of  which  are  very  rugged.  "  After  reaching  the  entrance  of  the 
HARBOUR  OF  CLIFDEN  and  rounding  a  promontory,  the  Castle  comes  into  view.  It 
is  a  modern  castellated  house,  not  remarkable  in  itself,  but  in  point  of  situation  un- 
rivalled. Mountain  and  wood  rise  behind,  and  a  fine  sloping  lawn  in  front  reaches 
down  to  the  landlocked  bay  ;  while  to  the  right  the  eye  ranges  over  the  ocean, 
until  it  mingles  with  the  far  and  dim  horizon."  This  part  of  the  Emerald  Isle  is 
likely  to  rise  to  some  consequence  if  the  new  schemes  of  improvement  should  be 
carried  out,  but  it  has  been  considered  hitherto  by  the  Irish  themselves  as  almost  a 
savage  country.  "  Connemara,"  says  a  writer  in  the  Penny  Journal,  "  is  a  word 
which  to  English,  and  even  to  Irish  ears,  is  expressive  of  nothing  but  the  ultima 
TJiule  of  barbarism.  Yet  its  signification  is  most  poetical — '  bays  of  the  sea. 
Towards  the  north-east  extremity  of  the  county  of  Galway  there  is  a  portion  cut  off, 
VOL.  i  Y 


82  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

as  it  were,  by  a  natural  barrier  of  lakes  and  mountains.  If  the  map  does  justice 
to  its  subject,  Connemara  will  appear  black  with  mountains,  dotted  with  lakes,  and 
studded  with  bogs  ;  its  coast  will  be  seen  rugged,  and  indented  with  fine  harbours; 
while  the  inland  country,  though  wild,  mountainous,  and  ill-cultivated,  and  so  little 
known  and  visited  that  its  name  is  a  proverb,  is  yet  equal  to  the  finest  part  of 
Wales  or  of  Scotland  ;  and  the  traveller  who  ventures  to  enjoy  its  romantic  pic- 
turesque scenery,  and  who  from  natural  or  acquired  taste  can  relish  '  the  lone  majesty 
of  untamed  nature,'  may  here  have  his  feelings  gratified  to  the  full.  As  a  proof 
how  little  is  known  of  this  singular  part  of  Ireland,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  a 
magistrate  in  an  adjoining  county,  when  he  heard  that  a  criminal  had  been  arrested 
who  had  long  hid  himself  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  these  Irish  highlands,  de- 
clared, that  '  the  poor  fellow  had  suffered  enough,  in  all  conscience,  for  any  crime 
lie  might  have  committed,  by  being  banished  seven  years  to  Connemara.'" 

The  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the  country  are,  of  course,  behind  the  rest  of 
Ireland  in  knowledge  and  civilization.  But  if  the  reader  understands  by  this  that 
they  are  barbarians,  and  destitute  of  the  feelings  of  humanity,  he  commits  a  very 
great  mistake.  The  Irish  highlanders  are  a  warm-hearted,  generous  people,  attached 
to  their  wild  mountains  and  romantic  glens,  and,  considering  the  few  advantages 
which  they  enjoy,  a  lively,  intelligent  race.  In  the  old  times  their  "  mountain 
land"  was  the  retreat  of  those  daring  spirits  who  scorned  to  submit  to  the  yoke  of 
an  invader ;  and  here,  preferring  poverty  and  freedom  to  restraint  and  submission, 
they  found  a  shelter  amid  the  deep  valleys  and  craggy  rocks,  like  the  ancient  Britons 
in  Wales,  and  the  Highlanders  in  Scotland. 

BALLYNAHINCH  CASTLE  is  the  first  very  attractive  object  on  the  road  from 
Clifden  to  Oughterard,  and  is  the  residence  of  the  principal  land-proprietor  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  Mr.  Martin.  This  gentleman  is  quite  a  king  in  his  immense  domain; 
and  a  person  in  the  neighbourhood  speaking  of  him  to  a  traveller  remarked,  that 
Colonel  Martin  was  the  best  Martin  that  ever  reigned.  His  house  stands  upon  the 
well-wooded  bank  of  a  long,  narrow  lake,  and  is  backed  by  a  range  of  dark  and 
lofty  mountains.  The  lake  is  one  of  a  chain  of  waters  that  almost  encircle  the 
eminences  called  the  TWELVE  PINS  or  Binabola,  said  to  be  the  most  extraordinary 
and  beautiful  assemblage  of  mountains  in  the  kingdom.  In  the  course  of  Mr. 
Inglis's  tour  in  Connemara,  he  was  lucky  enough  to  see  a  pattern  in  this  neigh- 
bourhood, the  description  of  which  is  too  amusing  to  be  passed  over.  He  says, 
"  It  fortunately  happened  that  on  the  second  day  of  my  sojourn  at  Maam  a  very  cele- 
brated pattern  was  to  be  held  on  a  singular  spot  high  up  among  the  mountains,  on 
a  little  plain  on  the  top  of  the  pass  between  Maamturc  and  the  neighbouring  moun- 
tain, an  elevation  of  about  one  thousand  two  hundred  feet,  and  I,  of  course,  resolved 
to  be  present.  A  pattern  was  originally  a  religious  ceremony,  and  was,  and  still  is, 


I 


alvvay-  - 
for  dcv...! 

after  the  better  '&*£•.  ***•! 
moderate  hilarity,  dtuiiV 
"  I  was  svccompauiedi 
toilsome,  I  was  accciim: 
was  soon  obltV,»d  to  <i»> 
greater  part  ofth&Tuarl- 
£prou*  companion,  an<i 
«ay  through--  the  bog  ou 
tii  know  where  one  ttun 
tutt  to  tuft,  and  \vhere  •  : 
perience  of  bogs  b'-fore 
iruttiM^.  that  'iurin<.:  il> 


ii^  were  sten 


r-i;: ».?!••.   s  held  is  claiDfl 
admitted   by  the  '..IMHH  '• 
their  opponents,  \isual 
together  ;  but  yet  >  >  n-  •• 
up  without  a  tcrimmw       Bw)  •' 
and  stoute»t, ,*rx.l  •*;.*•-'.  1  hn> 
Tyrol;  ami  E*b4f£fl^%kp$|ri 

"When  I  rwctw4  -,x  ,*a;j;  i  :*  U.,v! 

about  f°ur  " 

nioun 

tents  or  n>  • 

seated  n 

vrere  yet  •  i<>  Iioty 


SCENEIIY    OF    IRELAND.  83 

always  celebrated  near  to  a  holy  well ;  but  although  some  still  frequent  the  pattern 
for  devotional  purposes,  it  is  now  resorted  to  chiefly  as  a  place  of  recreation,  where, 
after  the  better  disposed  have  partaken  of  the  innocent  amusements  of  dancing  and 
moderate  hilarity,  drunkenness  and  fighting  wind  up  the  entertainment. 

"  I  was  accompanied  in  my  excursion  by  the  innkeeper,  and  the  road  being  rather 
toilsome,  I  was  accommodated  with  a  horse.  This  however  was  a  luxury  which  I 
was  soon  obliged  to  disencumber  myself  of,  for  a  great  part,  or  rather  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  road,  being  through  bogs,  I  soon  found  the  horse  to  be  a  dan- 
gerous companion,  and  was  glad  to  leave  him  behind  at  a  cabin  door,  and  make  my 
way  through  the  bog  on  foot.  It  requires  some  practice  to  be  an  expert  bog-trotter, 
to  know  where  one  may  safely  rest  one's  weight,  where  one  must  skip  lightly  from 
tuft  to  tuft,  and  where  one  must  not  risk  an  advance  at  all.  I  had  had  some  ex- 
perience of  bogs  before  coming  to  Ireland,  and  proved  so  apt  a  learner  in  bog- 
trotting,  that  during  the  whole  of  my  journey  I  never  committed  so  great  an  error 
of  judgment  as  to  sink  even  knee-deep. 

"  The  ascent  to  the  spot  where  the  pattern  was  to  be  held  was  picturesque  in  the 
extreme.  Far  up  the  winding  way  for  miles  before  us,  and  for  miles  behind  too, 
groups  were  seen  moving  up  the  mountain-side, — the  women,  with  their  red  petti- 
coats, easily  distinguishable  ;  some  were  on  foot,  some  few  on  horseback,  and  some 
rode  double.  About  half-way  up  we  overtook  a  party  of  lads  and  lasses,  beguiling 
the  toil  of  the  ascent  by  the  help  of  a  piper,  who  marched  before,  and  whose  stirring- 
strains  every  now  and  then  prompted  an  advance  in  jig-time  up  the  steep  mountain- 
path.  Some  few  we  met  coming  away— sober  people,  who  had  performed  their 
devotions  at  the  holy  well,  and  had  no  desire  to  be  partakers  in  the  sort  of  amusement 
that  generally  follows. 

"  Everybody  in  this  part  of  the  country  is  called  Joyce;  and  the  spot  where  the 
pattern  is  held  is  claimed  by  the  Joyces  to  be  in  Joyce's  country :  but  this  is  not 
admitted  by  the  Connemara  boys,  and  accordingly  two  factions,  the  Joyces  and 
their  opponents,  usually  hold  patterns  near  the  same  ground,  though  not  close 
together ;  but  yet  so  near  as  to  make  it  impossible  that  the  meetings  should  break 
up  without  a  scrimmage.  The  Joyces  are  a  magnificent  race  of  men,  the  biggest, 
and  stoutest,  and  tallest  I  have  seen  in  Ireland,  eclipsing  even  the  peasantry  of  the 
Tyrol ;  and  I  believe,  indeed,  their  claims  on  this  head  are  universally  admitted. 

"  When  I  reached  the  summit  of  the  Pass  and  came  in  sight  of  the  ground,  it  was 
about  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  pattern  was  at  its  height ;  and  truly  in  this  wild 
mountain  spot  the  scene  was  most  striking  and  picturesque.  There  were  a  score  of 
tents  or  more,  some  open  at  the  sides  and  some  closed ;  hundreds  in  groups  were 
seated  on  the  grass  or  on  the  stones,  which  lie  abundantly  there.  Some  old  persons 
were  yet  on  their  knees  beside  the  holy  well  performing  their  devotions  ;  and  here 


84  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

and  there  apart,  and  half-screened  by  the  masses  of  rocks  which  lay  about,  girls  of 
the  better  order,  who  had  finished  their  pastimes,  were  putting  off  their  shoes  and 
stockings  to  trot  homeward,  or  were  arranging  their  dress,  or  perhaps,  though  more 
rarely,  exchanging  a  word  or  two  with  a  Joyce  or  a  Connemara  boy.  All  was  quiet 
when  I  reached  the  ground,  and  I  was  warmly  welcomed  as  a  stranger  by  many, 
who  invited  me  into  their  tents.  Of  course  I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  the  pure 
potheen  circulated  freely. 

"  By-and-by,  however,  some  boastful  expression  of  a  Joyce  appeared  to  give  offence 
to  several  at  the  far  end  of  the  tent ;  and  something  loud  and  contemptuous  was 
spoken  by  two  or  three  in  a  breath.  The  language,  which  in  compliment  to  me 
had  been  English,  suddenly  changed  to  Irish.  Two  or  three  glasses  of  potheen 
were  quickly  gulped  by  most  of  the  '  boys' ;  and  the  innkeeper  who  had  accom- 
panied me,  and  who  sat  by  me  whispered  that  there  would  soon  be  some  fighting. 
I  had  seen  abundance  of  fighting  on  a  small  scale  in  Ireland,  but  I  confess  I  had 
been  barbarous  enough  to  wish  I  might  see  a  regular  faction  fight ;  and  now  I  was 
likely  to  be  gratified.  Taking  the  hint  of  the  innkeeper,  I  shook  hands  with  the 
'  boys'  nearest  to  me,  right  and  left;  and  taking  advantage  of  a  sudden  burst  of 
voices,  I  stepped  over  my  bench,  and  retiring  from  my  tent,  took  up  a  safe  position 
on  some  neighbouring  rocks. 

O  O 

"  I  had  not  long  to  wait ;  out  sallied  the  Joyces  and  a  score  of  other  '  boys,'  from 
several  tents  at  once,  as  if  there  had  been  some  preconcerted  signal ;  and  the  flourish- 
ing of  shillelahs  did  not  long  precede  the  using  of  them.  Any  one  to  see  an  Irish 
fight  for  the  first  time,  would  conclude  that  a  score  or  two  must  inevitably  be  put 
//  or.i -de-combat.  The  very  flourish  of  a  regular  shillelah,  and  the  shout  that  ac- 
companies it,  seem  to  be  the  immediate  precursors  of  a  fractured  skull ;  but  the 
affair,  though  bad  enough,  is  not  so  fatal  as  it  appears  to  be  :  the  shillelahs,  no 
doubt,  do  sometimes  descend  upon  a  head,  which  is  forthwith  a  broken  head,  but 
oftener  descend  upon  each  other ;  and  the  fight  soon  becomes  one  of  personal 
strength.  The  parties  close  and  grapple,  and  the  most  powerful  man  throws  his 
adversary.  Fair  play  is  but  little  attended  to;  two  or  three  often  attack  a  single 
man ;  nor  is  there  a  cessation  of  blows  even  when  a  man  is  on  the  ground.  On  the 
present  occasion  five  or  six  were  disabled,  but  there  was  no  homicide :  and  after  a 
scrimmage  which  lasted  perhaps  ten  minutes,  the  Joyces  remained  masters  of  the 
field.  The  women  took  no  part  in  the  fight ;  but  they  are  not  always  so  backward  ; 
it  is  chiefly  however  when  stones  are  the  weapons  that  women  take  a  part,  by  sup- 
plying the  combatants  with  missiles.  When  the  fight  ended  there  were  not  many 
remaining,  excepting  those  who  were  still  in  the  tents,  and  who  chanced  to  be  of 
neither  faction.  Most  of  the  women  had  left  the  place  when  the  quarrel  began, 
and  some  of  the  men  too.  I  noticed  after  the  fight,  that  some  who  had  been 


opposed  to  e.iofe*»il>« 
before.  The  sm  wa-  i 
bright  sun  fj.itmii/  i!<v* 
more  striking  now  thru 
horses  stretched1  many 
of  the  pipe,  nn<f  the  oc<v 
bv  thfs(>  uiiWDtit^d  soiin. 


will  bo.  si-en  thut  with  Irfjn.   ; 

dinary  actions,  a  trairi   •     •  p  .  > 

for  the  mighty  wortc  'i<-  .1  ,*    r      . 

b^en  much  diffl  Micr  ot'  i'piv  >iii 

Alcluit,  now  Dumbarton,  id  >V- 

and  false  conrttrn&tion ' of  sonic    ^   (hi 

Great  Rninin  .-M. ;'!)<•  a?-sjfrni'f!  a- 

fession,  a  wofVof  acKniMleAred  s'1''Uiiii*iu>ss.*j':          l«nn 

the  old  Galliean;  or  rather  ArW,.r.  ,  Bntnin      'I  Mtj-  kn.,',n  :, 

name  compv  ••   -'.  ••"•»sts        ! l-ui( .    i:  ,i  m  'jn-  u ••ni'>1\ 

now  called  IB-  ,p-.>   .•-,  *a<  'x^n.     Tii.ii  if  wii--  uji  ih<   .\nn.>- 

ricati  coast  ho  had  been  mode  cnptivi-  in   Ic-   !vy!uv"J,  all   MK-   writ».r«  of  his  lifo 

VOL.  I. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  85 

opposed  to  each  other  shook  hands  and  kissed,  and  appeared  as  good  friends  as 
before.  The  sun  was  nearly  set  when  the  pattern  finally  broke  up;  and  with  the 
bright  sun  flaming  down  the  cleft,  and  gilding  all  the  slopes,  the  scene  was  even 
more  striking  now  than  when  we  ascended.  The  long  line  of  pedestrians  and 
horses  stretched  many  miles  down  the  lengthened  defile  ;  and  the  mountain-notes 
of  the  pipe,  and  the  occasional  burst  of  voices,  and  the  lowing  of  the  cattle,  roused 
by  these  unwonted  sounds,  filled  all  the  hollow  of  the  hills. 


XII. 


NOT  far  from  Clifden  is  another  of  those  lovely  pieces  of  water  with  which  Con- 
nemara  abounds,  GARROMIN  LAKE.  The  late  Dean  Marion  chose  this  solitary  spot 
for  his  home,  and  with  great  taste  availed  himself  of  the  natural  beauties  of  the 
scenery,  and  formed  the  fine  estate  now  called  Glendalough.  Passing  this  oasis  in 
the  desert  of  bog  and  mountain,  the  next  stopping-place  is  Flynn's  Inn,  near  which 
is  another  famous  place  of  pilgrimage,  ST.  PATRICK'S  WELL.  The  west  of  Ireland 
seems  more  particularly  to  be  the  inheritance  of  St.  Patrick  ;  and  here,  if  I  remem- 
ber right,  he  passed  much  of  the  novitiate  to  his  canonization.  That  he  "  was  a 
gentleman"  we  all  know;  but  until  Mr.  Moore  gave  his  biography  in  brief  in  the 
History  of  Ireland,  St.  Patrick's  real  character  and  life  were  (to  me  at  least)  buried 
in  the  mists  of  tradition  and  fun.  It  will  not  be  malapropos  of  the  pilgrimage  to 
his  well,  to  extract  Mr.  Moore's  vvell-drawn-up  narration  of  the  saint's  career:  "  It 
will  be  seen  that  with  him,  as  perhaps  with  most  men  who  have  achieved  extraor- 
dinary actions,  a  train  of  preparation  appears  to  have  been  laid  from  the  very  outset, 
for  the  mighty  work  he  was  to  accomplish.  Respecting  his  birthplace  there  has 
been  much  difference  of  opinion ;  the  prevailing  notion  being  that  he  was  born  at 
Alcluit.  now  Dumbarton,  in  North  Britain.  It  is  only,  however,  by  a  very  forced 
and  false  construction  of  some  of  the  evidence  on  the  subject,  that  any  part  of 
Great  Britain  can  be  assigned  as  the  birthplace  of  the  saint;  and  his  own  Con- 
fession, a  work  of  acknowledged  genuineness,  proves  him  to  have  been  a  native  of 
the  old  Gallican,  or  rather  Armoric,  Britain.  The  country  anciently  known  by  this 
name  comprised  the  whole  of  the  north-west  coasts  of  Gaul ;  and  in  the  territory 
now  called  Boulogne,  St.  Patrick,  it  appears,  was  born.  That  it  was  on  the  Armo- 
rican  coast  he  had  been  made  captive  in  his  boyhood,  all  the  writers  of  his  life 
VOL.  i.  z 


86  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

agree ;  and  as  it  is  allowed  also,  by  the  same  authorities,  that  his  family  was  resident 
there  at  the  time,  there  arose  a  difficulty  as  to  the  cause  of  their  migration  thither 
from  the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  which  the  fact,  apparent  from  his  own  statement,  that 
Armorica  was  actually  the  place  of  his  nativity,  disposes  of  satisfactorily.  His 
family  was,  as  he  informs  us,  respectable,  his  father  having  held  the  office  of  dccurio, 
or  municipal  senator  ;  though,  as  it  appears,  he  afterwards  entered  into  holy  orders, 
and  was  a  deacon.  From  a  passage  in  the  letter  of  the  saint  to  Coroticus,  it  is 
supposed,  and  not  improbably,  that  his  family  may  have  been  of  Roman  origin ; 
and  the  opinion  that  his  mother,  Conchessa,  was  a  native  of  some  part  of  the 
Gauls,  is  concurred  in  by  all  the  old  Irish  writers. 

"  The  year  of  his  birth  has  been  likewise  a  subject  of  much  variance  and  con- 
troversy ;  but  the  calculations  most  to  be  relied  upon  assign  it  to  A.D.  387,  which, 
according  to  his  own  statement  of  his  having  been  at  the  time  when  he  was  made 
captive  sixteen  years  of  age,  brings  this  latter  event  to  the  year  403,  a  period  me- 
morable in  Irish  history,  when  the  monarch  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  after  laying 
waste  the  coasts  of  Great  Britain,  extended  his  ravages  to  the  maritime  districts 
of  Gaul. 

"  On  being  carried  by  his  captors  to  Ireland,  the  young  Patrick  was  purchased 
as  a  slave  by  a  man  named  Milcho,  who  lived  in  that  part  of  Dalaradia  which  is 
now  comprised  within  the  county  of  Antrim.  The  occupation  assigned  to  him  was 
the  tending  of  sheep  ;  and  his  lonely  rambles  over  the  mountain  and  in  the  forest  are 
described  by  himself  as  having  been  devoted  to  constant  prayer  and  thought,  and 
to  the  nursing  of  those  deep  devotional  feelings  which,  even  at  that  time,  he  felt 
strongly  stirring  within  him.  The  mountain  alluded  to  by  him  as  the  scene  of  these 
meditations  is  supposed  to  have  been  Sliebhmis,  as  it  is  now  called,  in  Antrim.  At 
length,  after  six  years  of  servitude,  the  desire  of  escaping  from  bondage  arose  in 
his  heart  :  a  voice  in  his  dreams,  he  says,  told  him  that  he  '  was  soon  to  go  to  his 
own  country,'  and  that  a  ship  was  ready  to  convey  him.  Accordingly,  in  the 
seventh  year  of  his  slavery  he  betook  himself  to  flight,  and  making  his  way  to  the 
south-western  coast  of  Ireland,  was  there  received,  with  some  reluctance,  on  board 
a  merchant-vessel,  which,  after  a  voyage  of  three  days,  landed  him  on  the  coast  of 
Gaul. 

"  After  indulging  for  a  time  in  the  society  of  his  parents  and  friends,  being 
naturally  desirous  of  retrieving  the  loss  of  those  years  during  which  he  had  been 
left  without  instruction,  he  repaired  'to  the  celebrated  monastery  or  college  of  St. 
Martin,  near  Tours,  where  he  remained  four  years,  and  was,  it  is  believed,  initiated 
there  in  the  ecclesiastical  state.  That  his  mind  dwelt  much  on  recollections  of 
Ireland  may  be  concluded  from  a  dream  which  he  represents  himself  to  have  had 
about  this  time,  in  which  a  messenger  appeared  to  him,  coming  as  if  from  Ireland, 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  87 

and  bearing  innumerable  letters,  on  one  of  which  were  written  these  words,  '  The 
voice  of  the  Irish.'  At  the  same  moment  he  fancied  that  he  could  hear  the  voices 
of  persons  from  the  wo'od  of  Toclat,  near  the  Western  Sea,  crying  out,  as  if  with 
one  voice,  '  We  entreat  thee,  holy  youth,  to  come  and  walk  still  among  us.'  '  I 
was  greatly  affected  in  my  heart,'  adds  the  saint,  in  describing  this  dream,  '  and 
could  read  no  further:  I  then  awoke.'  In  these  natural  workings  of  a  warm  and 

O 

pious  imagination,  described  by  himself  thus  simply — so  unlike  the  prodigies  and 
miracles  with  which  most  of  the  legends  of  his  life  abound — we  see  what  a  hold 
the  remembrance  of  Ireland  had  taken  of  his  youthful  fancy,  and  how  fondly  he 
already  contemplated  some  holy  work  in  her  service. 

"  At  the  time  when  this  vision  occurred  St.  Patrick  was  about  thirty  years  old, 
and  it  was  shortly  after,  we  are  told,  that  he  placed  himself  under  the  spiritual 
direction  of  St.  German  of  Auxerre,  a  man  of  distinguished  reputation  in  those 
times,  both  as  a  civilian  and  an  ecclesiastic.  From  this  period  there  is  no  very 
accurate  account  of  the  saint's  studies  or  transactions,  till,  in  the  year  429,  we  find 
him  accompanying  St.  German  and  Lupus-  in  their  expedition  to  Britain,  for  the 
purpose  of  eradicating  from  that  country  the  growing  errors  of  Pelagianism.  Nine 
years  of  this  interval  he  is  said  to  have  passed  in  an  island  or  islands  of  the  Tuscan 
Sea,  and  the  conjecture  that  Lerins  was  the  place  of  his  retreat  seems,  notwith- 
standing the  slight  geographical  difficulty,  by  no  means  improbable.  There  had  been 
recently  a  monastery  established  in  that  island,  which  became  afterwards  celebrated 
for  the  number  of  holy  and  learned  persons  whom  it  had  produced  ;  nor  could  the 
destined  apostle  have  chosen  for  himself  a  retreat  more  calculated  to  nurse  the 
solemn  enthusiasm  which  such  a  mission  required  than  among1  the  pious  and  con- 
templative solitaries  of  the  small  isle  of  Lerins. 

"  The  attention  of  Rome  being  at  this  time  directed  to  the  state  of  Christianity 
among  the  Irish — most  probably  by  the  reports  on  that  subject  received  from  the 
British  missionaries — it  was  resolved  by  Celestine  to  send  a  bishop  to  that  country, 
and  Palladius  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  person  appointed.  The  peculiar  circum- 
stances which  fitted  St.  Patrick  to  take  part  in  such  a  mission,  and  probably  his 
own  expressed  wishes  to  that  effect,  induced  St.  German  to  send  him  to  Rome  with 
recommendations  to  the  Holy  Father.  But  before  his  arrival  Palladius  had  de- 
parted for  Ireland,  and  the  hopeless  result  of  his  mission  has  already  been  related. 
Immediately  on  the  death  of  this  bishop,  two  or  three  of  his  disciples  set  out  to 
announce  the  event  to  his  successor,  St.  Patrick,  who  was  then  on  his  way  through 
Gaul.  Having  had  himself  consecrated  bishop  at  Eboria,  a  town  in  the  north- 
west of  that  country,  the  saint  proceeded  on  his  course  to  the  scene  of  his  labours, 
and  resting  but  a  short  time  in  Britain,  arrived  in  Ireland,  as  the  Irish  annals 
inform,  us,  in  the  first  year  of  the  pontificate  of  Sextus  III. 


88  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

• 

"  His  first  landing  appears  to  have  been  on  the  shore  of  Dublin,  or  as  it  is  de- 
scribed, '  the  celebrated  port  of  the  territory  of  the  Evolein,'  by  which  is  supposed 
to  have  been  meant  the  '  portus  Eblanorum'  of  Ptolemy,  the  present  harbour  of 
Dublin.  After  meeting  with  a  repulse  at  this  and  some  other  places  in  Leinster, 
the  saint,  anxious,  we  are  told,  to  visit  the  haunts  of  his  youth,  to  see  his  old  master, 
Milcho,  and  endeavour  to  convert  him  to  the  faith,  steered  his  course  for  East 
Ulster,  and  arrived  with  his  companions  at  a  port  near  Strangford,  in  the  district 
called  the  barony  of  Lecale.  Here,  on  landing  and  proceeding  a  short  way  up  the 
country,  they  were  met  by  a  herdsman  in  the  service  of  the  lord  of  the  district, 
who,  supposing  them  to  be  sea-robbers  or  pirates,  hastened  to  alarm  the  whole 
household.  In  a  moment  the  master  himself,  whose  name  was  Dicho,  made  his 
appearance,  attended  by  a  number  of  armed  followers,  and  threatening  destruction 
to  the  intruders ;  but  on  seeing  St.  Patrick,  so  much  struck  was  the  rude  chief  with 
the  calm  sanctity  of  his  aspect,  that  the  uplifted  weapon  was  suspended,  and  he  at 
once  invited  the  whole  of  the  party  to  his  dwelling.  The  impression  which  the 
looks  of  the  saint  had  made,  his  Christian  eloquence  but  served  to  deepen  and  con- 
firm, and  not  merely  the  pagan  lord  himself,  but  all  his  family  became  converts. 

"  In  a  humble  barn  belonging  to  this  chief,  which  was  ever  after  called  Sabhul 
Padruic,  or  Patrick's  Barn,  the  saint  celebrated  Divine  worship;  and  we  shall  find 
that  this  spot,  consecrated  by  his  first  spiritual  triumph,  continued  to  the  last  his 
most  favourite  and  most  frequented  retreat. 

"  Desirous  of  visiting  his  former  abode,  and  seeing  that  mountain  where  he  had 
so  often  prayed  in  the  time  of  his  bondage,  he  set  out  for  the  residence  of  his 
master,  Milcho,  which  appears  to  have  been  situated  in  the  valley  of  Arcuil,  in  that 
district  of  Dalaradia  inhabited  by  the  Cruthene  or  Irish  Picts.  Whatever  might 
have  been  his  hope  of  effecting  the  conversion  of  his  old  master,  he  was  doomed  to 
meet  with  disappointment,  as  Milcho,  fixed  and  inveterate  in  his  heathenism,  on 
hearing  of  the  approach  of  his  holy  visitor  refused  to  receive  or  see  him. 

"  After  remaining  some  time  in  Down,  to  which  county  he  had  returned  from 
Dalaradia,  St.  Patrick  prepared,  on  the  approach  of  Easter,  to  risk  the  bold,  and  as 
it  proved  politic  step,  of  celebrating  that  great  Christian  festival  in  the  very  neigh- 
bourhood of  Tara,  where  the  princes  and  states  of  the  whole  kingdom  were  to  be 
about  that  time  assembled.  Taking  leave  of  his  new  friend  Dicho,  he  set  sail  with 
his  companions,  and  steering  southward  arrived  at  the  harbour  now  called  Colp,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Boyne.  There  leaving  his  boat,  he  proceeded  with  his  party  to 
the  plain  of  Breg,  in  which  the  ancient  city  of  Tara  was  situated.  In  the  course  of 
his  journey,  a  youth  of  family  whom  he  baptized,  and  to  whom,  on  account  of  the 
kindly  qualities  of  his  nature,  he  gave  the  name  of  Benignus,  conceived  such  an 
affection  for  him  as  to  insist  on  being  the  companion  of  his  way.  This  enthusiastic 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  89 

youth  became  afterwards  one  of  his  most  favourite  disciples,  and  on  his  death  suc- 
ceeded him  as  bishop  of  Armagh.  On  their  arrival  at  Slane  the  saint  and  his 
companions  pitched  their  tents  for  the  night,  and  as  it  was  the  eve  of  the  festival  of 
Easter,  lighted  at  nightfall  the  paschal  fire.  It  happened  that  on  the  same  evening 
the  monarch  Leogaire  and  the  assembled  princes  were,  according  to  custom,  cele- 
brating the  pagan  festival  of  La  Bealtinne ;  and  as  it  was  a  law  that  no  fires  should 
be  lighted  on  that  night  till  the  great  pile  in  the  palace  of  Tara  was  kindled,  the 
paschal  fire  of  St.  Patrick,  on  being  seen  from  the  heights  of  Tara  before  that  of 
the  monarch,  excited  the  wonder  of  all  assembled.  To  the  angry  inquiries  of 
Leogaire,  demanding  who  could  have  dared  to  violate  thus  the  law,  his  Magi  or 
Druids  are  said  to  have  made  answer,  '  This  fire,  which  has  now  been  kindled 
before  our  eyes,  unless  extinguished  this  very  night,  will  never  be  extinguished 
throughout  all  time.  Moreover,  it  will  tower  above  all  the  fires  of  our  ancient  rites, 
and  he  who  lights  it  will  ere  long  scatter  your  kingdom.'  Surprised  and  indignant, 
the  monarch  instantly  despatched  messengers  to  summon  the  offender  to  his 
presence ;  the  princes  seated  themselves  in  a  circle  upon  the  grass  to  receive  him, 
and  on  his  arrival,  one  alone  among  them,  Here,  the  son  of  Dego,  impressed  with 
reverence  by  the  stranger's  appearance,  stood  up  to  salute  him. 

"  That  they  heard  with  complacency,  however,  his  account  of  the  objects  of  his 
mission,  appears  from  his  preaching  at  the  palace  of  Tara  on  the  following  day,  in 
the  presence  of  the  king  and  the  states-general,  and  maintaining  an  argument 
against  the  most  learned  of  the  Druids,  in  which  the  victory  was  on  his  side.  It  is 
recorded,  that  the  only  person  who  upon  this  occasion  rose  to  welcome  him,  was 
the  arch-poet  Dubtach,  who  became  his  convert  on  that  very  day,  and  devoted 
thenceforth  his  poetical  talents  to  religious  subjects  alone.  The  monarch  himself 
too,  while  listening  to  the  words  of  the  apostle,  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  to  his 
surrounding  nobles,  '  It  is  better  that  I  should  believe  than  die ; '  and  appalled  by 
the  awful  denouncements  of  the  preacher,  to  have  at  once  professed  himself 
Christian. 

"  There  seems  little  doubt  that  the  king  Leogaire,  with  that  spirit  of  tolerance 
which  then  pervaded  all  ranks,  and  so  singularly  smoothed  the  way  to  the  reception 
of  the  Gospel  in  Ireland,  gave  full  leave  to  the  saint  to  promulgate  his  new  creed  to 
the.  people,  on  condition  of  his  not  infringing  the  laws  or  peace  of  the  kingdom. 
But  that  either  himself  or  his  queen  had  enlisted  among  the  converts,  there  appears 
strong  reason  to  question.  In  adducing  instances  of  the  great  success  with  which 
God  had  blessed  his  mission,  the  saint  makes  mention  of  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  men  of  rank  who,  he  boasts,  had  embraced  the  faith ;  but  with  respect  to  the 
conversion  of  the  king  or  queen,  he  maintains  a  total  silence.  It  has  been, 
indeed,  in  the  higher  regions  of  society  that,  from  the  very  commencement  of 

VOL.  i.  A  A 


90  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

Christianity,  its  light  has  always  encountered  the  most  resisting  medium ;  and  it  is 
plain  from  the  narrative  of  St.  Patrick,  that  while  he  found  the  people  everywhere 
docile  listeners,  his  success  with  the  upper  or  dominant  caste  was  comparatively 
slow  and  limited ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  so  late  as  the  time  when  he  wrote  his 
Confession,  the  greater  part  of  the  kings  and  princes  were  yet  converted. 

"  Among  the  females,  however,  even  of  this  highest  class,  the  lessons  of  peace  and 
humility  which  he  inculcated  were  always  hailed  with  welcome ;  and  he  describes 
one  noble  young  Scotic  lady  whom  he  had  baptized,  as  '  blessed  and  most  beautiful.' 
To  the  list  of  his  royal  female  converts  are  to  be  added  Ethnea  and  Fethlimia, 
daughters  of  the  king  Leogaire,  whom  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  with  in  the 
course  of  a  journey  over  the  plain  of  Connaught,  under  circumstances  full  of  what 
may  be  called  the  poesy  of  real  life. 

"  It  was  natural  that  the  dream  of  '  the  voice  of  the  Irish,'  by  which  his  imagi- 
nation had  many  years  before  been  haunted,  should  now,  in  the  midst  of  events  so 
exciting  and  gratifying,  recur  vividly  to  his  mind ;  and  we  are  told  accordingly  that 
a  wish  to  visit  once  more  the  scene  of  that  vision — to  behold  the  wood  beside  the 
Western  Sea  from  whence  the  voices  appeared  to  come — concurred  with  other 
more  important  objects  to  induce  him  to  undertake  this  journey  westwards.  Resting 
for  the  night  on  his  way,  at  a  fountain  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  royal  residence, 
Cruachan,  himself,  and  his  companions  had  begun  at  daybreak  to  chant  their 
morning  service,  when  the  two  young  princesses  coming  to  the  fountain  at  this 
early  hour  to  bathe,  were  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  a  group  of  venerable 
persons,  all  clothed  in  white  garments  and  holding  books  in  their  hands.  On  their 
inquiring  who  the  strangers  were,  and  to  what  class  of  beings  they  belonged, 
whether  celestial,  aerial,  or  terrestrial,  St.  Patrick  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity 
thus  furnished  of  instructing  them  in  the  nature  of  the  true  God  ;  and  while  an- 
swering their  simple  and  eager  questions  as  to  where  the  God  he  worshipped  dwelt, 
whether  in  Heaven  or  on  the  earth,  on  mountains  or  in  valleys,  in  the  sea  or  in 
rivers,  contrived  to  explain  to  them  the  leading  truths  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Delighted  with  his  discourse,  the  royal  sisters  declared  their  willingness  to  conform 
to  any  course  of  life  that  would  render  them  acceptable  to  such  a  God  as  he  an- 
nounced ;  and,  being  then  baptized  by  the  holy  stranger  at  the  fountain,  they 
became  in  a  short  time  after  consecrated  virgins  of  the  church. 

"  The  saint  had,  previously  to  his  leaving  Meath,  attended  the  celebration  of  the 
Taltine  games,  and  taken  advantage  of  the  vast  multitudes  there  assembled  to  for- 
ward his  mighty  work  of  conversion.  In  the  course  of  his  journey  likewise  to 
Connaught,  he  turned  aside  a  little  from  the  direct  road,  to  visit  that  frightful  haunt 
of  cruelty  and  superstition,  the  Plain  of  Slaughter,  in  the  county  of  Leitrim,  where, 
from  time  immemorial,  had  stood  the  Druidical  idol  Crom-cruach,  called  sometimes 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  Q] 

also  Cean-Groith,  or  Head  of  the  Sun.  This  image, — to  which,  as  to  Moloch  of  old, 
young  children  were  offered  in  sacrifice,— had  been  an  object  of  worship,  we  are  told, 
with  every  successive  colony  by  which  the  island  had  been  conquered.  For  St. 
Patrick,  however,  was  reserved  the  glory  of  destroying  both  idol  and  worship  ;  and 
a  large  church  was  now  erected  by  him  in  the  place  where  these  monstrous  rites 
had  been  so  long  solemnised. 

"  His  spiritual  labours  in  the  west  of  Ireland  are  all  detailed  with  a  fond  mi- 
nuteness by  his  biographers,  and  exhibit,  with  little  exception,  the  very  same  flow 
of  triumphant  success  which  marked  his  progress  from  the  beginning,  baptizino- 
multitudes  wherever  he  went,  providing  churches  for  the  congregations  thus  formed, 
and  ordaining  priests  from  amongst  his  disciples  to  watch  over  them.  His  only  rest 
from  these  various  cares  was  during  a  part  of  the  Lent  season,  when  retirino-  alone 
to  the  heights  of  Mount  Eagle,  or,  as  it  has  been  since  called,  the  Mountain  of  St. 
Patrick,  he  there  devoted  himself  for  a  time  to  fasting  and  solitary  prayer.  While 
thus  occupied,  the  various  sea-fowl  and  birds  of  prey  that  would  naturally  be 
attracted  to  the  spot  by  the  sight  of  a  living  creature  in  so  solitary  a  place,  were 
transformed,  by  the  fancy  of  the  superstitious,  into  flocks  of  demons  which  came 
to  tempt  and  disturb'the  holy  man  from  his  devotions.  After  this  interval  of  seclu- 
sion, he  proceeded  northwards  to  the  country  then  called  Tir-amalgaidh,  the  modern 
barony  of  Tyrawley. 

"  He  was  now  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  wood  of  Foclut,  near  the  ocean,  from 
whence  the  voices  of  the  Irish  had  called  to  him  in  his  dream ;  and  whether  good 
fortune  alone  was  concerned  in  effecting  the  accomplishment  of  the  omen,  or,  as  is 
most  likely,  the  thought  that  he  was  specially  appointed  to  this  place,  gave  fresh 
impulse  to  his  zeal,  the  success  which  actually  attended  his  mission  in  this  district 
sufficiently  justified  any  reliance  he  might  have  placed  upon  the  dream.  Arriving 
soon  after  the  death  of  the  king  of  that  territory,  and  at  the  moment  when  his 
seven  sons,  having  just  terminated  a  dispute  concerning  the  succession,  were, 
together  with  a  great  multitude  of  people,  collected  on  the  occasion,  St.  Patrick 
repaired  to  the  assembly,  and  by  his  preaching  brought  over  to  the  faith  of  Christ 
not  only  the  seven  princes,  including  the  new  king,  but  also  twelve  thousand  per- 
sons more,  all  of  whom  he  soon  after  baptized.  It  is  supposed  that  to  these  western 
regions  of  Ireland  the  saint  alludes  in  his  Confession,  where  he  states  that  he  had 
visited  remote  districts  where  no  missionary  had  been  before ;  an  assertion  im- 
portant, as  plainly  implying,  that  in  the  more  accessible  parts  of  the  country, 
Christianity  had  before  his  time  been  preached  and  practised. 

"  From  this  period,  through  the  remainder  of  his  truly  wonder-working  career, 
the  records  of  his  transactions  present  but  little  variety ;  his  visits  to  Leinster, 
Ulster,  and  Munster  being  but  repetitions  of  the  course  of  success  we  have  been 


92  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

contemplating — a  continuation  of  the  same  ardour,  activity,  and  self-devotion  on 
the  part  of  the  missionary  himself,  and  the  same  intelligence,  susceptibility,  and 
teachableness  on  the  part  of  most  of  his  hearers. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  docile  and  devotional  spirit  which  he  found  everywhere 
among  the  lower  classes,  and  the  singular  forbearance  with  which  among  the 
highest,  even  the  rejecters  of  his  doctrine  tolerated  his  preaching  it,  yet  that  his 
life  was  sometimes  in  danger  appears  from  his  own  statements ;  and  an  instance  or 
two  are  mentioned  by  his  biographers,  where  the  peril  must  have  been  imminent. 
On  one  of  these  occasions  he  was  indebted  for  his  life  to  the  generosity  of  his  cha- 
rioteer Odran,  who,  hearing  of  the  intention  of  a  desperate  chieftain  named  Failge, 
to  attack  the  saint  when  on  his  way  through  the  King's  County,  contrived,  under 
the  pretence  of  being  fatigued,  to  induce  his  master  to  take  the  driver's  seat  and 
so  being  mistaken  for  St.  Patrick,  received  the  lance  of  the  assassin  in  his  stead. 
The  death  of  this  charioteer  is  made  more  memorable  by  the  remarkable  circum- 
stance, that  he  is  the  only  martyr  on  record  who,  in  the  course  of  this  peaceful 
crusade  in  Ireland,  fell  a  victim  by  the  hands  of  an  Irishman.  On  another  occa- 
sion, while  visiting  Lecale,  the  scene  of  his  earliest  labours,  a  design  was  formed 
against  his  life  by  the  captain  of  a  band  of  robbers,  which  he  not  only  baffled  by 
his  intrepidity  and  presence  of  mind,  but  succeeded  in  converting  the  repentant 
bandit  into  a  believer.  Full  of  compunction,  this  man,  whose  name  was  Maccaldus, 
demanded  of  St.  Patrick  what  form  of  penance  he  ought  to  undergo  for  his  crimes; 
and  the  nature  of  the  task  which  the  saint  imposed  upon  him  is  highly  characteristic  of 
the  enterprising  cast  of  his  own  mind.  The  penitent  was  to  depart  from  Ireland 
immediately,  to  trust  himself  alone  to  the  waves  in  a  leathern  boat,  and  taking  with 
him  nothing  but  a  coarse  garment,  land  on  the  first  shore  to  which  the  wind  might 
bear  him,  and  there  devote  himself  to  the  service  of  God.  This  command  was  obeyed  ; 
and  it  is  added,  that  wafted  by  the  wind  to  the  Isle  of  Man,  Maccaldus  found  there 
two  holy  bishops,  by  whom  he  was  most  kindly  received,  and  who  directed  him  in 
his  penitential  works  with  so  much  spiritual  advantage,  that  he  succeeded  them  in 
the  bishopric  of  the  island,  and  became  renowned  for  his  sanctity. 

The  most  active  foes  St.  Patrick  had  to  encounter  were  to  be  found  naturally 
among  those  Magi  or  Druids,  who  saw  in  the  system  he  was  introducing  the  down- 
fall of  their  own  religion  and  power.  An  attempt  made  against  his  life,  shortly 
before  his  grand  work  of  conversion  in  Tyrawley,  is  said  to  have  originated  among 
that  priesthood,  and  to  have  been  averted  only  by  the  interference  of  one  of  the 
converted  princes.  Among  the  civil  class  of  the  literati,  however,  his  holy  cause 
found  some  devoted  allies.  It  has  been  already  seen  that  the  arch-poet  Dubtach 
became  very  early  a  convert ;  and  we  find  the  saint,  in  the  course  of  a  journey 
through  Leinster,  paying  a  visit  to  this  bard's  residence  in  Hy-Kinsellagh,  and 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  93 

consulting  with  him  upon  matters  relating  to  the  faith.  The  arch-poet's  disciple 
too,  Fiech,  was  here  admitted  to  holy  orders  by  St.  Patrick,  and,  becoming  after- 
wards bishop  of  Sletty,  left  behind  him  a  name  as  distinguished  for  piety  as  for 
learning. 

"  The  event  in  consequence  of  which  the  saint  addressed  his  indignant  letter  to 
Coroticus,  the  only  authentic  writing,  besides  the  Confession,  we  have  from  his  hand, 
is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  during  his  stay  on  the  Munster  coast,  about  the 
year  450.  A  British  prince  named  Coroticus,  who,  though  professing  to  be  a 
Christian,  was  not  the  less,  as  appears  from  his  conduct,  a  pirate  and  persecutor, 
-had  landed  with  a  party  of  armed  followers  while  St.  Patrick  was  on  the  coast,  and 
set  about  plundering  a  large  district  in  which  on  the  very  day  before  the  saint  had 
baptized  and  confirmed  a  vast  number  of  converts.  Having  murdered  several  of  these 
persons,  the  pirates  carried  off  a  considerable  number  of  captives,  and  then  sold 
them  as  slaves  to  the  Picts  and  Scots,  who  were  at  that  time,  engaged  in  their  last 
joint  excursions  into  Britain.  A  letter  despatched  by  the  saint  to  the  marauders, 
requesting  them  to  restore  the  baptized  captives  and  part  of  the  booty,  having 
been  treated  by  them  with  contumely,  he  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of 
forthwith  issuing  the  solemn  epistle  which  has  come  down  to  us,  in  which,  denoun- 
cing Coroticus  and  his  followers  as  robbers  and  murderers,  he,  in  his  capacity  of 
'  bishop  established  in  Ireland,'  declares  them  to  be  excommunicated. 

"  Having  now  preached  through  all  the  provinces,  and  rilled  the  greater  part  ol 
the  island  with  Christians  and  with  churches,  St.  Patrick  saw  that  the  fit  period 
was  at  length  arrived  for  the  consolidation  of  the  extensive  hierarchy  he  had  thus 
constructed  by  the  establishment  of  a  metropolitan  see.  In  selecting  the  district 
of  Macha  for  the  seat  of  the  primacy,  he  was  influenced,  doubtless,  by  the  asso- 
ciations connected  with  that  place  as  an  ancient  royal  residence— the  celebrated 
palace  of  Emmania  having  stood  formerly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  eminence 
upon  which  Ardmacha,  or  Armagh,  afterwards  rose.  The  time  of  the  foundation  of 
this  see  by  St.  Patrick  has  been  variously  stated ;  but  the  opinion  of  those  who 
place  it  late  in  his  career,  besides  being  equally  borne  out  by  evidence,  seems  by  far 
the  most  consonant  with  reason,  as  it  is  not  probable  that  he  would  have  set  about 
establishing  a  metropolitan  see  for  all  Ireland,  until  he  had  visited  the  various  pro- 
vinces, ascertained  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  in  each,  and  regulated  accordingly 
their  ecclesiastical  concerns.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  Ware  and  other  writers, 
who  give  to  this  see  the  designation  of  archiepiscopal,  and  style  St.  Patrick  an 
archbishop,  have  been  guilty  of  a  slight  anachronism,  as  it  was  not  till  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eighth  century  that  the  title  of  archbishop  was  known  in  Ireland.  It 
was,  indeed,  in  all  countries  a  term  of  rather  late  adoption  ;  St.  Athanasius  being, 
I  rather  think,  the  first  writer  in  whose  works  it  is  found. 

VOL.  i.  B  B 


94  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

"  The  see  of  Armagh  being  now  established,  and  the  great  bulk  of  the  nation 
won  over  to  the  faith,  St.  Patrick,  resting  in  the  midst  of  the  spiritual  creation  he 
had  called  up  round  him,  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  between  Armagh  and  his 
favourite  retreat  at  Sabhul,  in  the  barony  of  Lecale — that  spot  which  had  witnessed 
the  first  dawn  of  his  apostolical  career,  and  now  shared  in  the  calm  glories  which 
surrounded  its  setting.  Among  the  many  obvious  fables  with  which  even  the  best 
of  the  ancient  records  of  his  life  abound,  is  to  be  reckoned  the  account  of  his  jour- 
ney to  Rome,  after  the  foundation  of  Armagh,  with  the  view  of  obtaining,  as  is 
alleged,  from  the  pope  a  confirmation  of  its  metropolitan  privileges,  and  also  of 
procuring  a  supply  of  relics.  This  story,  invented,  it  is  plain,  to  dignify  and  lend  a 
lustre  to  some  relics  shown  in  later  times  at  Armagh,  is  wholly  at  variance  with  the 
saint's  written  testimony,  which  proves  him  constantly  to  have  remained  in  Ireland, 
from  the  time  when  he  commenced  his  mission  in  the  barony  of  Lecale,  to  the  last 
day  of  his  life.  In  the  document  here  referred  to,  which  was  written  after  the 
foundation  of  Armagh,  he  declares  expressly  that  the  Lord  '  had  commanded  him 
to  come  among  the  Irish,  and  to  stay  with  them  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.' 

"  Among  the  last  proceedings  recorded  of  him,  he  is  said  to  have  held  some 
synods  at  Armagh,  in  which  canons  were  decreed,  and  ecclesiastical  matters  regu- 
lated. Of  the  canons  attributed  to  these  early  synods,  there  are  some  pronounced 
to  be  of  a  much  later  date,  while  of  others  the  authenticity  has  been  by  high  and 
critical  authority  admitted. 

"  The  impression  that  his  death  was  not  far  distant,  appears  to  have  been  strong 
on  the  saint's  mind  when  he  wrote  his  Confession,  the  chief  object  of  which  was, 
to  inform  his  relations  and  others  in  foreign  nations,  of  the  redeeming  change  which 
God,  through  his  ministry,  had  worked  in  the  minds  of  the  Irish.  With  this  view 
it  was  that  he  wrote  his  parting  communication  in  Latin,  though  fully  aware,  as  he 
himself  acknowledges,  how  rude  and  imperfect  was  his  mode  of  expressing  himself 
in  that  tongue,  from  the  constant  habit  he  had  been  in  for  so  many  years  of  speak- 
ing no  language  but  Irish. 

"  In  his  retreat  at  Sabhul,  the  venerable  saint  was  seized  with  his  last  illness. 
Perceiving  that  death  was  near  at  hand,  and  wishing  that  Armagh,  as  the  seat  of 
his  own  peculiar  see,  should  be  the  resting-place  of  his  remains,  he  set  out  to  reach 
that  spot ;  but  feeling  on  his  way  some  inward  warnings,  which  the  fancy  of  tradi- 
tion has  converted  into  the  voice  of  an  angel  commanding  him  to  return  to  Sabhul 
as  the  place  appointed  for  his  last  hour,  he  went  back  to  that  retreat,  and  there 
about  a  week  after  died,  on  the  17th  of  March,  A.D.  465,  having  then  reached,  ac- 
cording to  the  most  consistent  hypothesis  on  the  subject,  his  seventy-eighth  year. 
No  sooner  had  the  news  spread  throughout  Ireland  that  the  great  apostle  was  no 
more,  than  the  clergy  nocked  from  all  quarters  to  Sabhul,  to  assist  in  solemnising 


M 

V>\\ 


the  i-hanling 


trnred  to  be  one  consti 
In  the  choice  of  a  am 


It  wu.s  fim -tub' 


A»  you  approach  (l:ti"  • .  - 
r  m  most  other  :KT    k 

•which  prepares  yf>u  soiWfwfn 

of  the  streets  of  the  t.;v;\ 

square  in  front  i>f  the  mr.  "iv-^ 

sn.t:kii:gless,-  but  all  wnl; 

of  colours.     Not  only  in-  dr>'-s,  how 
cnf-ss  of  feature,  tl.-   'falwa\i;  << 
I  had  seen.     The  i  >-<•  of  the  pot- 

agd  tKere  seemed  the  jm        ••  ot  ^.  ti:Tii 

wandering  awhile  anioiu.'  -'i  •  basket*  an*! 

wfthllie  *mu' 
•.'reservation. 

:;  to  recall  8j  recollection. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  95 

his  obsequies ;  and  as  every  bishop  or  priest,  according  as  he  arrived,  felt  naturally 
anxious  to  join  in  honouring  the  dead,  by  the  celebration  of  the  holy  mysteries, 
the  rites  were  continued  without  interruption  through  day  and  night.  To  psalmody 
and  the  chanting  of  hymns  the  hours  of  the  night  were  all  devoted  ;  and  so  great 
was  the  pomp  and  the  profusion  of  torches  kept  constantly  burning,  that,  as  those 
who  describe  the  scene  express  it,  darkness  was  dispelled,  and  the  whole  time 
appeared  to  be  one  constant  day. 

"  In  the  choice  of  a  successor  to  the  see  there  could  be  no  delay  nor  difficulty, 
as  the  eyes  of  the  saint  himself,  and  of  all  who  were  interested  in  the  appointment, 
had  long  been  fixed  on  his  disciple  Benignus  as  the  person  destined  to  succeed 
him.  It  was  remembered  that  he  had,  in  speaking  of  this  disciple  when  but  a  boy, 
said,  in  the  language  rather  of  prophecy  than  of  appointment,  '  He  will  be  the  heir  of 
my  power.'  Some  writers  even  assert  that  the  see  was  resigned  by  him  to  Benignus 
soon  after  the  foundation  of  Armagh.  But  there  appears  little  ground  for  this 
assertion,  and  eccording  to  the  most  consistent  accounts,  Benignus  did  not  become 
bishop  of  Armagh  till  after  St.  Patrick's  death." 


XIII. 

As  you  approach  Galway,  the  universality  of  red  petticoats,  and  the  same  brilliant 
colour  in  most  other  articles  of  female  dress,  give  a  foreign  aspect  to  the  population, 
which  prepares  you  somewhat  for  the  completely  Italian  or  Spanish  look  of  most 
of  the  streets  of  the  town.  It  was  a  market-day  when  I  arrived,  and  the  large 
square  in  front  of  the  inn  was  thronged  with  hundreds  of  people,  shoeless  and 
stockingless,  but  all  with  their  "  top-hamper,"  as  a  sailor  would  say,  of  this  gayest 
of  colours.  Not  only  in  dress,  however,  but  in  vivid  gesticulation,  and  in  a  certain 
massiveness  of  feature,  the  Galwayians  struck  me  as  differing  from  all  the  other 
Irish  I  had  seen.  The  noise  of  the  potato  and  pig  traders  was  perfectly  deafening, 
and  there  seemed  the  promise  of  a  fight  in  every  group  engaged  in  traffic.  After 
wandering  awhile  among  the  baskets  and  carts,  I  turned  down  a  well-thronged  street, 
and  was  immediately  struck  with  the  singular  architecture  of  some  of  the  old  SPANISH 
HOUSES,  still  in  tolerable  preservation.  To  me  it  seemed  irresistibly  like  a  street  in 
Italy ;  and  Inglis,  who  has  travelled  in  Spain,  says  that  at  every  step  he  saw  some- 
thing to  recall  Spain  to  his  recollection.  "  I  found,"  he  says,  "  the  wide  entries 


96  SCEiSEBY    OF    IRELAND. 

and  broad  stairs  of  Cadiz  and  Malaga ;  the  arched  gateways  with  the  outer  and 
inner  railing,  and  the  court  within — needing  only  the  fountain  and  flower-vases  to 
emulate  Seville.  I  found  the  sculptured  gateways  and  grotesque  architecture,  which 
carried  the  imagination  to  the  Moorish  cities  of  Granada  and  Valencia.  I  even 
found  the  little  sliding-vvicket  for  observation  in  one  or  two  doors,  reminding  one  of 
the  secrecy,  mystery,  and  caution  observed,  where  gallantry  and  superstition  divide 
life  between  them." 

Galway  was  a  famous  town  when  its  Spanish  merchants  were  princes ;  but  their 
fine  dwellings  were  at  one  period  usurped  and  defaced  by  the  rabble,  and  little 
remains  of  the  interiors  to  show  their  ancient  glory.  A  gentleman  who  joined  me 
in  my  walk  took  me  to  Lombard-street,  to  show  me  the  antique  front  of  the  house 
of  the  far-famed  Lynch  Fitzstephen,  the  "  Roman  father"  of  Galway.  It  is  a 
tottering  old  house  with  a  tablet  over  the  door,  on  which  is  sculptured  a  death's 
head  over  cross-bones,  and  a  corresponding  inscription.  The  story  of  his  "  stern 
virtue"  is  thus  told. 

"  A  few  years  before  the  battle  of  Knocktuadh,  an  extraordinary  instance  of  civic 
justice  occurred  in  this  town,  which  in  the  eyes  of  its  citizens  elevated  their  chief 
magistrate  to  a  rank  with  the  inflexible  Roman.  James  Lynch  Fitzstephen,  an 
opulent  merchant,  was  mayor  of  Galway  in  1493.  He  had  made  several  voyages 
to  Spain,  as  a  considerable  intercourse  was  then  kept  up  between  that  country  and 
the  western  coast  of  Ireland.  When  returning  from  his  last  visit  he  brought  with 
him  the  son  of  a  respectable  merchant  named  Gomez,  whose  hospitality  he  had 
largely  axperienced,  and  who  was  now  received  by  his  family  with  all  that  warmth 
of  affection  which  from  the  earliest  period  has  characterised  the  natives  of  Ireland. 
Young  Gomez  soon  became  the  intimate  associate  of  Walter  Lynch,  the  only  son 
of  the  mayor,  a  youth  in  his  twenty-first  year,  and  who  possessed  qualities  of  mind 
and  body  which  rendered  him  an  object  of  general  admiration ;  but  with  these  was 
unhappily  united  a  disposition  to  libertinism,  which  was  a  source  of  the  greatest 
affliction  to  his  father.  The  worthy  magistrate,  however,  was  now  led  to  entertain 
hopes  of  a  favourable  change  in  his  son's  character,  as  he  was  engaged  in  paying 
honourable  addresses  to  a  beautiful  young  lady  of  good  family  and  fortune.  Pre- 
paratory to  the  nuptials,  the  mayor  gave  a  splendid  entertainment,  at  which  young 
Lynch  fancied  his  intended  bride  viewed  his  Spanish  friend  with  too  much  regard. 
The  fire  of  jealousy  was  instantly  lighted  up  in  his  distempered  brain,  and  at  their 
next  interview  he  accused  his  beloved  Agnes  of  unfaithfulness  to  him*  Irritated  at 
its  injustice,  the  offended  fair  one  disdained  to  deny  the  charge,  and  the  lovers 
parted  in  anger. 

"  On  the  following  night,  while  Walter  Lynch  slowly  passed  the  residence  of  his 
Agnes,  he  observed  young  Gomez  to  leave  the  house,  as  he  had  been  invited  by  her 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  97 

father  to  spend  that  evening  with  him.  All  his  suspicions  now  received  the  most 
dreadful  confirmation,  and  in  maddened  fury  he  rushed  on  his  unsuspecting  friend, 
who,  a-larmed  by  a  voice  which  the  frantic  rage  of  his  pursuer  prevented  him  from 
recognizing,  fled  towards  a  solitary  quarter  of  the  town  near  the  shore.  Lynch 
maintained  the  fell  pursuit  till  his  victim  had  nearly  reached  the  water's  edge,  when 
he  overtook  him,  darted  a  poniard  into  his  heart,  and  plunged  his  body  bleeding 
into  the  sea,  which  during  the  night  threw  it  back  again  upon  the  shore,  where  it 
was  found  and  recognized  on  the  following  morning. 

"  The  wretched  murderer,  after  contemplating  for  a  moment  the  deed  of  horror 
which  he  had  perpetrated,  sought  to  hide  himself  in  the  recesses  of  an  adjoining 
wood,  where  he  passed  the  night  a  prey  to  all  those  conflicting  feelings  which  the 
loss  of  that  happiness  he  had  so  ardently  expected,  and  a  sense  of  guilt  of  the  deepest 
dye  could  inflict.  He  at  length  found  some  degree  of  consolation  in  the  firm  reso- 
lution of  surrendering  himself  to  the  law,  as  the  only  means  now  left  to  him  of 
expiating  the  dreadful  crime  which  he  had  committed  against  society.  With  this 
determination,  he  bent  his  steps  towards  the  town  at  the  earliest  dawn  of  the  fol- 
lowing morning ;  but  he  had  scarcely  reached  its  precincts,  when  he  met  a  crowd 
approaching,  amongst  whom,  with  shame  and  terror,  he  observed  his  father  on 
horseback,  attended  by  several  officers  of  justice.  At  present  the  venerable  magi- 
strate had  no  suspicion  that  his  only  son  was  the  assassin  of  his  friend  and  guest ; 
but  when  young  Lynch  proclaimed  himself  the  murderer,  a  conflict  of  feelings 
seized  the  wretched  father  beyond  the  power  of  language  to  describe.  To  him,  as 
chief  magistrate,  was  entrusted  the  power  of  life  and  death.  For  a  moment  the 
strong  affection  of  a  parent  pleaded  in  his  breast  in  behalf  of  his  wretched  son  ; 
but  this  quickly  gave  place  to  a  sense  of  duty  in  his  magisterial  capacity,  as  an 
impartial  dispenser  of  the  laws.  The  latter  feeling  at  length  predominated ;  and 
though  he  now  perceived  that  the  cup  of  earthly  bliss  was  about  to  be  for  ever 
dashed  from  his  lips,  he  resolved  to  sacrifice  all  personal  considerations  to  his  love 
of  justice,  and  ordered  the  guard  to  secure  their  prisoner. 

"  The  sad  procession  moved  slowly  towards  the  prison  amidst  a  concourse  of 
spectators,  some  of  whom  expressed  the  strongest  admiration  at  the  upright  conduct 
of  the  magistrate-,  while  others  were  equally  loud  in  their  lamentations  for  the  un- 
happy fate  of  a  highly-accomplished  youth  who  had  long  been  a  universal  favourite. 
But  the  firmness  of  the  mayor  had  to  withstand  a  still  greater  shock  when  the 
mother,  sisters,  and  intended  bride  of  the  wretched  Walter  beheld  him  who  had 
been  their  hope  and  pride  approach  pale,  bound,  and  surrounded  with  spears. 
Their  frantic  outcries  affected  every  heart  except  that  of  the  inflexible  magistrate, 
who  had  now  resolved  to  sacrifice  life,  with  all  that  makes  life  valuable,  rather  than 
swerve  from  the  path  of  duty. 

VOL.  i.  c  c 


!J8  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

"  In  a  few  days  the  trial  of  Walter  Lynch  took  place  ;  and  in  a  provincial  town 
of  Ireland,  containing  at  that  period  not  more  than  three  thousand  inhabitants,  a 
father  was  beheld  sitting  in  judgment,  like  another  Brutus,  on  his  only  son  ;  and 
like  him  too,  condemning  that  son  to  die,  as  a  sacrifice  to  public  justice.  Yet  the 
trial  of  the  firmness  of  the  upright  and  inflexible  magistrate  did  not  end  here.  His 
was  a  virtue  too  refined  for  vulgar  minds  :  the  populace  loudly  demanded  the 
prisoner's  release,  and  were  only  prevented  by  the  guards  from  demolishing  the  prison, 
and  the  mayor's  house  which  adjoined  it;  and  their  fury  was  increased  by  learning 
that  the  unhappy  prisoner  had  now  become  anxious  for  life.  To  these  ebullitions 
of  popular  rage  were  added  the  intercessions  of  persons  of  the  first  rank  and  in- 
fluence in  Galway,  and  the  entreaties  of  his  dearest  relatives  and  friends ;  but  while 
Lynch  evinced  all  the  feeling  of  a  father  and  a  man  placed  in  his  singularly  distress- 
ing circumstances,  lie  undauntedly  declared  that  the  law  should  take  its  course. 

"  OH  the  night  preceding  the  fatal  day  appointed  for  the  execution  of  Walter 
Lynch,  this  extraordinary  man  entered  the  dungeon  of  his  son,  holding  in  his  hand 
a  lamp,  and  accompanied  by  a  priest.  He  locked  the  grate  after  him,  kept  the  keys 
fast  in  his  hand,  and  then  seated  himself  in  a  recess  of  the  wall.  The  wretched 
culprit  drew  near,  and,  with  a  faltering  tongue,  asked  if  he  had  anything  to  hope. 
The  mayor  answered,  '  No,  my  son  ;  your  life  is  forfeited  to  the  laws,  and  at  sun- 
rise you  must  die.  I  have  prayed  for  your  prosperity ;  but  that  is  at  an  end — with 
this  world  you  have  done  for  ever.  Were  any  other  but  your  wretched  father  your 
judge,  I  might  have  dropped  a  tear  over  my  child's  misfortune,  and  solicited  for  his 
life,  even  though  stained  with  murder:  but  you  must  die  ;  these  are  the  last  drops 
which  shall  quench  the  sparks  of  nature;  and  if  you  dare  hope,  implore  that 
Heaven  may  not  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  the  destroyer  of  his  fellow-creature.  I 
am  now  come  to  join  with  this  good  man  in  petitioning  God  to  give  you  such  com- 
posure as  will  enable  you  to  meet  your  punishment  with  becoming  resignation.' 
After  this  affecting  address,  he  called  on  the  clergyman  to  offer  up  their  united 
prayers  for  God's  forgiveness  to  his  unhappy  son,  and  that  he  might  be  fully  forti- 
fied to  meet  the  approaching  catastrophe.  In  the  ensuing  supplications  at  a  throne 
of  mercy,  the  youthful  culprit  joined  with  fervour,  and  spoke  of  life  and  its  con- 
cerns no  more. 

"  Day  had  scarcely  broken  when  the  signal  of  preparation  was  heard  among  the 
guards  without.  The  father  rose,  and  assisted  the  executioner  to  remove  the  fetters 
which  bound  his  unfortunate  son.  Then  unlocking  the  door,  he  placed  him  between 
the  priest  and  himself,  leaning  upon  an  arm  of  each.  In  this  manner  they  ascended 
a  flight  of  steps  lined  with  soldiers,  and  were  passing  on  to  gain  the  street,  when  a 
new  trial  assailed  the  magistrate,  for  which  he  appears  not  to  have  been  unprepared. 
His  wretched  wife,  whose  name  was  Blake,  failing  in  her  personal  exertions  to  save 


•SCESEI.'V   or   i  (; 


the  It 

prevailed  09  tfap,  M  the 
They  fle«ttc.  anus,  wt-l  a 
whose  ontcriea  ibr^tircj  ^ 
thofec  of  Uio  mayor  Vi'  ^ui. 
of  theif  country;    bu.f.  fin 


over  parental  tr-f-rri 
to  ])ay  on  its  altsjr. 
.him    by  a   \vji;<J;n_. 
lookinjr'tJie  str>  ei.. 

of  tile  I'''IXJ,  wlui'h 


if  inhabitant* 


otrangere, 
that  gcncr 


l^eariug  Adopted  in  the  un..-  of  the.iow:i- 
|xx:>rest>  a -share  in  < >i».-,  gi'  •  n  to  the  • 

" '{"  rits  ii>  ''"   ivan-.igi  iiii.nt  ••  -  ' 

-    life,  i.^-   pr -v  .!  •. 

prise  the  happy  result   •>'  skill,  prailenof,  and  p'^j^tty.iB 
dT'their  tim«  U  deputed  to  the 

.-nts  of  the  alehc-usc:  hut  nhou  "iire       y  pm 
.•  !..  their  asvl'ul   situation,  and   taking  with  them 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  99 

the  life  of  her  son,  had  gone  in  distraction  to  the  heads  of  her  own  family,  and 
prevailed  on  them,  for  the  honour  of  their  house,  to  rescue  him  from  ignominy. 
They  flew  to  arms,  and  a  prodigious  concourse  soon  assembled  to  support  them, 
whose  outcries  for  mercy  to  the  culprit  would  have  shaken  any  nerves  less  firm  than 
those  of  the  mayor  of  Galway.  He  exhorted  them  to  yield  submission  to  the  laws 
of  their  country ;  but  finding  all  his  efforts  fruitless  to  accomplish  the  ends  of 
justice  at  the  accustomed  place  and  by  the  usual  hands,  he  by  a  desperate  victory 
over  parental  feeling,  resolved  himself  to  perform  the  sacrifice  which  he  had  vowed 
to  pay  on  its  altar.  Still  retaining  a  hold  of  his  unfortunate  son,  he  mounted  with 
him  by  a  -winding  stair  within  the  building,  that  led  to  an  arched  window  over- 
looking the  street,  which  he  saw  filled  with  the  populace.  Here  he  secured  the  end 
of  the  rope,  which  had  been  previously  fixed  round  the  neck  of  his  son,  to  an  iron 
staple  which  projected  from  the  wall,  and  after  taking  from  him  a  last  embrace,  he 
launched  him  into  eternity. 

"  The  intrepid  magistrate  expected  instant  death  from  the  fury  of  the  populace; 
but  the  people  seemed  so  much  overawed  and  confounded  by  the  magnanimous  act, 
that  they  retired  slowly  and  peaceably  to  their  several  dwellings.  The  innocent 
cause  of  this  sad  tragedy  is  said  to  have  died  soon  after  of  grief,  and  the  unhappy 
father  of  Walter  Lynch  to  have  secluded  himself  during  the  remainder  of  his  life 
from  all  society  except  that  of  his  mourning  family." 

There  is  a  very  good  view  of  GALWAY  FROM  THE  CLADDAGII,  a  suburb  of  rather 
a  singular  character.  We  strolled  thither  from  our  contemplation  of  the  death's- 
head  over  the  door  of  the  unhappy  Fitzstephen,  and  found  enough  in  the  oddity  of 
the  little  fishing-town  to  divert  us  from  the  melancholy  impression  we  had  received. 
"  The  inhabitants  of  the  Claddagh,"  says  Wright,  "  about  three  thousand  in  num- 
ber, speak  a  dialect  of  the  ancient  Irish,  retain  their  pristine  dress  and  customs, 
.  and,  with  an  old-fashioned  pride,  boast  of  the  separateness  of  their  origin  and  race. 
Strangers,  whom  they  call  transplanters,  they  do  not  welcome  with  that  hospitality 
that  generally  belongs  to  an  ancient  state  of  things,  and  they  appear  to  have  a 
timidity  of  forming  matrimonial  alliances  beyond  the  limits  of  their  own  little 
dynasty.  The  marriage  portion  is  peculiarly  emblematical,  and  is,  perhaps,  die 
bearing  adopted  in  the  arms  of  the  town  ;  it  is  a  small  fishing-boat,  or,  amongst  the 
poorest,  a  share  in  one,  given  to  the  son-in-law. 

"  Their  dexterity  in  the  management  of  the  boat,  and  in  encountering  the  dangers 
incident  to  the  fisherman's  life,  is  proverbial ;  and  landsmen  may  view  with  sur- 
prise the  happy  results  of  skill,  prudence,  and  propriety  in  the  pursuit  of  a  life  so 
full  of  peril.  Part  of  their  time  is  devoted  to  the  mending  of  their  nets  ;  another, 
but  smaller,  to  the  enjoyments  of  the  alehouse:  but  when  once  they  put  out  to  sea, 
they  become  cautiously  alive  to  their  awful  situation,  and  taking  with  them  oaten 


100  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

cake,  potatoes,  water,  and  fire,  never  suffer  any  species  of  malt  drink  or  spirits  to 
form  part  of  their  store.  The  fisherman's  return,  however,  is  touched  with  different 
tints  ;  safe  ashore,  he  throws  his  cares  overboard,  commits  the  cargo  to  the  happy 
wife  and  innocent  children  that  hail  his  safe  arrival,  and  withdrawing  with  his 
messmates  to  the  fireside,  makes  joyous  offerings  to  the  god  of  wine.  During  the 
husband's  festivities  are  the  hours  of  industry  of  wife  and  children ;  to  them  belong 
the  exclusive  task  of  disposing  of  the  fish,  and  the  duties  of  purse-bearer  and 
controller  of  the  household. 

"  On  the  eve  of  St.  John  the  election  of  a  mayor  and  sheriffs  is  made  by  the 
Claddagh  boys.  Their  mock  ceremony  is  accompanied  by  real  mirth;  fires  are 
lighted  up  in  various  places  through  the  town,  round  which  boys  and  girls  dance  in 
joyous  hilarity,  armed  with  long-handled  besoms  made  of  dock  stems,  with  which 
they  gently  touch  each  passenger  who  refuses  to  obey  the  mandate  of  '  honour  the 
bonfire.1  The  attendants  of  the  mayor  and  sheriffs  are  also  armed  with  like  rude 
fasces  of  authority,  which  in  the  plenitude  of  fun,  are  ultimately  set  on  fire,  and 
whirled  round  over  the  heads  of  the  noisy  corporation. 

"  The  noble  bay  of  Galway  is  the  unfailing  treasure  of  the  Claddagh  boys,  and 
the  origin  and  cause  of  the  growing  importance  of  Galway.  The  surface  spreads 
over  an  area  of  two  hundred  square  miles,  the  Arran  Islands  being  taken  as  its  sea 
boundary  or  breakwater.  Its  waters  wash  a  coast  of  thirty  miles,  indented  with 
secure  and  deep  harbours,  and  possessing  numerous  roadsteads.  In  the  deep  water, 
sunfish,  hake,  cod,  and  turbot  are  taken  in  all  their  varieties,  and  on  a  ground  that 
is  believed  to  be  an  extension  of  the  Newfoundland  Bank.  Along  the  shores  crus- 
taceous  fish  are  caught,  and  large  and  delicious  oysters  at  Pouldudy,  Burrin,  and 
Rinvarragh.  Herrings  abound  here  in  the  season,  and  their  exclusive  capture  is 
claimed  by  the  Claddagh  boys.  The  salmon  fishing  yields  an  annual  revenue  of 
£500,  although  the  retail  price  is  trifling,  and  the  entire  draught  consumed  at 
home." 

I  left  the  crowded  and  foreign-looking  streets  of  Galway  most  unwillingly,  and 
passed  my  last  afternoon  in  a  visit  to  the  fine  ruins  of  CLARE  ABBEY,  beautifully 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Clare  river  near  its  entrance  into  Lough  Corrib.  Thence 
I  kept  on  my  way  to  Athlone  and  Clonmacnoise. 


:l         ;(••.!•  \     OP 


iait  drjnk  or  spirit 
^vith  diff' 

•a    . 

c  cargo  to  the  happy 

ug  with  his 

•'«.  win*.'  -During  the 


and  girls  dance  in 
stems,  with  wliicli 


fire,  and 


flth 


. .  Uu.rrin,  ami 
»o  capture  is 
al  revenue  of 
consumed  at 

villingly,  and 
y,  beautifully 

•rnb.  Thence 


t 


rums  01  Li-i  ivMAi1'. 

first  ruin,  which  ho 

yard,  tho  large  fiUd 

remains  of  this  chu 

workman 

it  now  totter* 

VOL.  I. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  101 


XIV. 


THE  Shannon  from  Athlone  to  Clonmacnoise  is  a  dull  and  uninteresting  river. 
"  Surrounded  by  bogs,"  to  use  the  language  of  Caesar  Otway,  to  whose  sparkling  and 
flowing  pen  I  am  indebted  for  this  and  other  admirable  descriptions,  "  it  creeps 
through  dismal  flats  and  swamps ;  and  the  narrow  tracts  of  meadow  and  small 
patches  of  cultivation  along  its  banks,  only  tend,  like  green  fringes  to  a  mourning 
drapery,  to  mark  off,  as  by  contrast,  the  extreme  dreariness  of  the  picture.  A 
tedious  row  of  about  ten  miles  down  the  most  dreary  of  navigations,  brought  us  in 
sight  of  Clonmacnoise.  As  I  said  before,  a  line  of  gravel-hills,  forming  the  Aisgir 
Reada,  comes  from  the  east,  and  cuts  the  line  of  the  Shannon  at  right-angles, 
causing  the  great  river  to  form  a  reach  or  bend  ;  and  the  hills  breaking  their  direct 
lines  as  they  approach  the  stream,  form  an  amphitheatre,  upon  the  southern  curve 
of  which  are  erected  the  Seven  Churches :  the  northern  terminates  in  a  beautiful 
green  hill,  like  the  inverted  hull  of  a  ship,  round  which  the  river  flows  at  some 
distance,  leaving  an  extensive  flat  of  swampy  meadow  between  it  and  the  water.  As 
the  wind  was  strong  and  steady  here  up  the  river,  causing  the  labour  of  rowing  to 
be  almost  intolerable,  we  drew  up  our  little  cot  into  a  cave,  and  ascending  the  green 
hill,  had  at  once  from  its  summit  a  view  of  the  sacred  spot  before  us,  and  of  the 
extraordinary  country  all  around.  The  Irish  saints  of  olden  time,  in  imitation  of 
their  brethren  of  the  Thebaic  desert,  chose  places  wherein  to  honour  God  and  dis- 
cipline themselves,  which  marked  the  austerities  of  that  superstition,  which  deceiv- 
ingly told  them  that  they  must  not  stand  up  to  make  use  of  the  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  had  made  them  free.  What  a  dreary  vale  is  Glendalough  ! — what  a  lonely 
isle  is  Inniscaltra  ! — what  a  hideous  place  is  Patrick's  Purgatory! — what  a  desolate 
spot  is  Clonmacnoise  !  From  this  hill  of  Bentullagh,  on  which  we  now  stood,  the 
numerous  churches,  the  two  round  towers,  the  curiously  overhanging  bastions  of 
O'Melaghlin's  Castle,  all  before  us  to  the  south,  and  rising  in  relief  from  the  dreary 
sameness  of  the  surrounding  red  bogs,  presented  such  a  picture  of  tottering  ruins 
and  encompassing  desolation,  as  I  am  sure  few  places  in  Europe  could  parallel. 

"  We  had  neither  time  nor  patience  to  remain  long  on  a  remote  hill,  while  the 
ruins  of  CLONMACNOISE  were  within  ten  minutes'  walk  of  us,  so  we  proceeded  to  the 
first  ruin,  which  lies  separate  from  all  the  rest,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  church- 
yard, the  large  field  or  common  on  which  the  patron  is  held  intervening.  Little 
remains  of  this  church  but  a  beautiful  arch  of  the  most  florid  and  ornate  Gothic 
workmanship,  forming  the  opening  from  the  body  of  the  church  into  the  chancel : 
it  now  totters  to  its  fall — it  is  even  surprising  that  it  does  not  tumble ;  and  I  suspect 

VOL.  I.  D  D 


102  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

that  it  would  long  ago  have  fallen  a  victim  to  the  elements  or  to  the  barbarous 
violence  of  the  people,  were  it  not  that  it  is  considered  as  part  of  an  expiating 
penance  for  the  pilgrim  to  creep  on  his  bare  knees  under  this  arch  while  approach- 
ing the  altar-stone  of  this  chapel,  where  sundry  paters  and  aves  must  be  repeated 
as  essential  to  keeping  the  station.  Adjoining  this  is  a  holy  stone  on  which  St. 
Kieran  sat,  and  the  sitting  on  it  now,  under  the  affiance  of  faith,  proves  a  sovereign 
cure  for  all  epileptic  people. 

"  Here  is  the  largest  enclosure  of  tombs  and  churches  I  have  anywhere  seen  in 
Ireland.  What  a  mixture  of  old  and  new  graves !  Modern  inscriptions  recording  the 
death  and  virtues  of  the  sons  of  little  men,  the  rude  forefathers  of  the  surrounding 
hamlets; — -ancient  inscriptions  in  the  oldest  forms  of  Irish  letters,  recording  the  deeds 
and  the  hopes  of  kings,  bishops,  and  abbots,  buried  a  thousand  years  ago,  lying 
about  broken,  neglected,  and  dishonoured,  what  would  I  give  could  I  have  de- 
ciphered !  I  should  have  been  glad  had  time  allowed,  to  be  permitted  to  transcribe 
them.  And  what  shall  I  do  with  all  those  ancient  towers,  and  crosses,  and  churches, 
without  a  guide  ?  1  looked  around :  there  were  many  people  in  the  sacred  enclosure  ; 
some  kneeling  in  the  deepest  abstraction  of  devotion  at  the  graves  of  their  de- 
parted friends, — the  streaming  eye,  the  tremulous  hand,  the  bowed-down  body,  the 
whole  soul  of  sorrowful  reminiscence  and  of  trust  in  the  goodness  of  the  God  of 
spirits,  threw  a  sacred  solemnity  about  them  that  few  indeed,  though  counting  their 
act  superstitious,  would  presume  to  interrupt ;  he  who  would  venture  so  to  do,  must 
be  one  indeed  of  little  feeling.  I  saw  others  straggling  through  the  place — some 
half  intoxicated,  sauntering  or  stumbling  over  the  gravestones — others  hurrying 
across  the  sacred  enclosure,  as  if  hastening  to  partake  of  the  last  dregs  of  de- 
bauchery in  the  tents  of  the  patron-green. 

"  After  looking  about  vaguely  for  some  time,  this  church  of  St.  Kieran  was  what 
caught  my  particular  attention.  It  was  extremely  small,  more  an  insignificant 
oratory  than  what  could  be  called  a  church ; — a  tall  man  could  scarcely  lie  at  length 
in  it ;  a  mason  would  have  contracted  to  build  its  walls  for  a  week's  wages ;  yet 
this,  my  mendicant  guide  said,  was  the  old  church  of  St.  Kieran.  The  walls  had 
all  gone  awry  from  their  foundations ;  they  had  collapsed  together,  and  presented 
a  picture  of  desolation  without  grandeur.  Beside  it  was  a  sort  of  cavity  or  hollow 
in  the  ground,  as  if  some  persons  had  lately  been  rooting  to  extract  a  badger  or  a 
fox ;  but  here  it  was  that  the  people,  supposing  St.  Kieran  to  be  deposited,  have 
rooted  diligently  for  any  particle  of  clay  that  could  be  found,  in  order  to  carry  home 
that  holy  earth,  steep  it  in  the  water,  and  drink  it ;  and  happy  is  the  votary  who  is 
now  able  amongst  the  bones  and  stones  to  pick  up  what  has  the  semblance  of  soil, 
in  order  to  commit  it  to  his  stomach  as  a  means  of  grace,  or  as  a  sovereign  remedy 
against  diseases  of  all  sorts. 


-X 

1 


SCENERY    ur     ,HI 


;\    •.•'  bt.  ivif-iRii,  tj  •   w  >h.un  led  u*  wi»  to  the. large 
utii-r  ml,    i-   i  I     no    k.-rtl    fcizj  ;    tuf    -uU    .t  is  I 


tbie  church  U  .<  ;.ti  to  liavr  been 
thi-  uortheot. parts  of  ftosconiiiiui 
rec(>rds  that  it  was  i-epairiM  :u  : 

4>  Whcttver  the  northern   i 


may  we 


Ui  dec 
of  tin: 
arc  1 1 
churcl 


"lookit.iT  urn 
wiGW-teath< 


gintleaien  ail  you  know  abotii  lin'i 
at  any  rate  I  most  run  and  slum   . 


•ia  if  he  never  saw 


.•.••HII 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  103 

"  From  the  little  oratory  of  St.  Kieran,  the  woman  led  us  on  to  the  largest  of  the 
ruined  churches,  which,  after  all,  is  of  no  great  size ;  but  still  it  is  the  most 
remarkable  of  any,  not  only  for  its  greater  size,  but  for  the  beauty  of  its  western 
entrance,  and  the  exquisite  and  elaborate  workmanship  of  its  northern  doorway. 
This  church  is  said  to  have  been  originally  erected  by  the  M'Dermots,  princes  of 
the  northern  parts  of  Roscommon ;  a  tablet  on  the  wall,  near  the  eastern  window, 
records  that  it  was  repaired  in  1647,  by  M'Coghlan,  the  lord  of  the  adjoining  ter- 
ritories. 

"  Whether  the  northern  doorway  into  this  church  existed  prior  to  the  repairs  of 
M'Coghlan,  or  whether  executed  by  his  direction,  I  am  not  competent  to  decide ; 
but  I  am  induced  to  believe  that  it  was  constructed  in  a  more  auspicious  day  of 
taste  in  Gothic  architecture  in  Ireland.  It  is  executed  in  blue  limestone,  marble  it 
may  well  be  called,  and  the  elaborate  tracery,  on  which  the  whole  fancy  and  vagary 
of  Gothic  license  is  lavished,  stands  forth  as  sharp,  fresh,  and  clean  as  if  but  yester- 
day from  under  the  chisel. 

"  Amongst  the  other  ornaments  of  this  highly-finished  doorway  are  figures  in 
alto  rilievo — one  evidently  of  a  bishop  giving  his  blessing,  the  other  of  an  abbot ; 
the  third  figure  is  much  mutilated,  and  that  apparently  done  on  purpose. 

"  Proceeding  from  M'Dermot's  church,  our  attention  was  directed  to  a  very  fine 
stone  cross,  the  largest  in  the  place,  formed  of  one  piece,  and  covered  with  carvings 
in  basso  rilievo  and  inscriptions,  which  had  I  the  ability,  my  time  would  not  allow  me 
to  decipher.  '  Come,  my  good  woman,'  said  I,  '  tell  what  may  be  the  stories  told 
of  these  figures.'  '  Why,  then,  myself  cannot  tell  you  anything  about  them,  they 
are  all  out  ancient;  may  be  Darby  Claffy  yonder,  the  oddest  man  about  the 
churches,  could  tell  you  somewhat.'  Now  Darby  Claffy  was  standing  idle,  leaning 
not  far  off  against  the  wall  of  Dowling's  church,  looking  up  at  O'Rourke's  tower, 
and  a  finer  studio  for  a  sketcher  than  the  head,  face,  and  form  of  the  venerable- 
looking  man  could  not  be  seen  :  eighty  winters  had  dropped  their  fiakes  as  light  as 
snow-feathers  on  his  head;  and  there  he  stood,  with  his  hat  off,  his  fine  Guido  coun- 
tenance and  expressive  face,  a  living  accompaniment  to  all  the  grey  venerability 
that  was  around.  '  Come  over  here,  Darby  Claffy,  honest  man,  and  tell  the  strange 
gintlemen  all  you  know  about  them  crosses  and  things— musha,  myself  forgets ; 
at  any  rate  I  must  run  and  show  Judy  Delancy,  the  simple  crathur,  where  to  find 
her  father's  grave.  Heaven  be  wid  yees,  gintlemen,  and  don't  forget  poor  Judy.'  A 
shilling  given  to  her  seemed  the  source  of  unutterable  joy;  her  little  son  that  was 
beside  her,  appearing  as  if  he  never  saw  so  large  a  coin,  snatched  it  in  raptures  from 
his  mammy,  and  danced  about  the  gravestones  in  triumph.  I  was  pleased  to  buy 
human  joy  so  cheaply.  The  old  man  did  not  belie  his  fine  countenance ;  his  mind 
was  stored  with  traditionary  recollections  concerning  Clonmacnoise,  which,  if  not 


104 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 


according  to  recorded  facts,  were  founded  on  them ;  and  he  spoke  with  perfect 
assurance  in  the  truth  of  what  he  said,  and  of  the  sanctity  of  all  around.  '  Can 
you,  my  honest  fellow,  tell  us  anything  about  the  figures  carved  on  this  cross  ?'  '  A 
little,  plase  your  honour;  but  sartain  I'm  no  scholar.  Come  here  now,  mister,  do 
you  see  that  figure  with  the  keys  ?  That  is  St.  Pether ;  and  that  there  beside  him  is 
St.  Kieran.  Do  you  see  a  book  in  his  hand  ?  That  is  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew, 
which  Kieran  learned  so  well  from  holy  Finian,  of  Clonard,  in  the  county  Meath, 
where  in  ould  times  there  was  a  great  school,  somewhat  the  same  as  Maynooth  now 
is,  whence  young  Father  Flinnerty  has  just  come  home  edicated ;  well,  plase  your 
honours,  Kieran  was  called  Kieran  of  St.  Matthew,  because  he  knew  that  Gospel 
so  well.  And  do  now  look  below  Pether  and  Kieran,  and  don't  you  notice  young  men 
smiling,  and  one  playing  the  bagpipes  ?  Well,  this  represents  the  young  priests  that 
Kieran  brought  with  him  to  Clonmacnoise ;  and  as  well  becomes  the  divil,  he  must 
needs  envy  their  devotions,  and  he  used  to  come  by  night  and  play  his  bagpipes  to 
divart  them  there,  and  draw  them  off'  from  their  vesper  duties;  and  up  they'd  get 
from  their  knees,  when  the  ould  boy,  in  the  shape  of  a  piper,  would  play  a  planxty, 
and  set  a  bait,  (they  couldn't  for  their  life  help  it,)  jigging  it  away.  Now  St.  Pether 
in  Heaven  saw,  to  be  sure,  all  this,  and  so  he  comes  down  to  tell  Kieran  of  it ; 
and  moreover  he  falls  upon  Satan  in  a  thrice ; — don't  you  see  him  there  how  he  has 
tumbled  the  enemy  of  man  ?  and,  as  you  see  there,  is  sending  him  headlong  to 
hell.'  There  was  certainly  something  like  a  man  playing  the  pipes  cut  on  the  cross, 
and  a  representation  of  two  persons  contending,  and  one  getting  the  better  of  the 
other  ;  but  whether  old  Claffy  was  right  in  his  reading  I  cannot  say.  This  cross  is 
certainly  one  of  the  finest  I  have  seen  in  Ireland  ;  I  question  whether  it  is  even 
inferior  to  those  immense  ones  that  are  at  Monasterboice,  in  the  county  of  Louth. 

''  From  thence  we  proceeded,  the  old  man  following  us,  to  the  church  and  round 
tower,  which  stands  in  the  north-western  extremity  of  the  cemetery,  and  which  is 
usually  called  M'Carthy's  church  and  tower.  The  round  tower,  though  small,  is 
one  of  the  most  perfect  in  Ireland ;  it  is  conically  capped,  and  the  ranges  of  stone 
forming  the  cover  are  of  the  most  beautiful  and  singular  arrangement.  The  tower 
stands  on  the  south  side  of  the  chancel  of  the  church;  and  the  doorway  of  the  tower, 
instead  of  being  elevated  ten  or  fifteen  feet  from  the  ground,  is  on  a  level  with  the 
floor  of  the  chancel  from  which  it  leads ;  it  is  within  a  few  feet  of  the  altar :  more- 
over the  archway  leading  from  the  nave  of  the  church  into  the  chancel,  which  is  of 
the  most  finished  and  at  the  same  time  chaste  order  of  Gothic  construction,  is 
wrought  into  the  body  of  the  round  tower,  part  of  whose  rotundity  is  sacrificed  to 
give  room  and  form  to  the  display  of  its  light  and  elegant  span.  Now  these  two 
circumstances  convince  me  that,  in  the  first  place,  the  church  and  tower  were  built 
at  the  same  time ;  moreover,  that  as  the  church  was  placed  more  remote  than 


-     i'N  ,.u  v     OP   IBEL 


facts,  wer*  founded  on  ;!..  :I1  and  he  spoke  with  perfect 
of  what  he  siud,  and  of  it*  wocUty  of  all  around.  '  Can 
tell  us  Hiiytliiug  nb..u>  rfc»  figure*  carved  on  this  cross  1'  '  A 

lvoine  here  now,  mister,  do 
!»«r,  km  I  that  there  beside  him  is 
i.Hod''    Tto»t  j       f  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew, 
"f,  in  the  county  Meath, 
<a.-   as  Maynooth  now 
.*«)!,  plase  your 
••  that  Gospel 

1  '  "iice  young  men 

•  (|ii;ij;-  priests  that 
.-  tlte  divil,  he  must 
!'  ••:•  '  ;>!av  his  bugpipes  to 
:uifl  up   they'd  get 
would  |.!;iy  ;i  planxty, 
: •:  ,  it  .j\\:iv      \o>v  St.  I'elhcr 


to 


••unity  of  Loufh. 

n;ri'h  ,aid  round 

i".     finetery,  and  which  its 

.nil   i   wci,  though  small,  is. 

i  lie  ranges  of  stone 

.iiivT'-ruent.      The  tower 

•  'ioorway  of  the  tower, 

round, -is  on  a  level  with  the 

ilfcra  a  tew  fcxt  of  the  altar:  more- 

liurrh  into  the  chancel,  which  is  of 

t  order  of  Gothic  construction,  ig 

of  whose  rotundity  is  sacrificed  to 

<»,  tht-  ch  ,i  tower  were  built 

rh  was  placed  more  remote  than 


^ 

^ 


other  rip 

•<>n  rim'  • 


M'Cart 

the  O' 


i      From 


R   K 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  105 

other  churches,  and  nearer  invaders  coming  across  the  Shannon,  the  tower  was 
provided  as  a  look-out  station  and  place  of  ready  retreat  for  the  priests  to  retire  to 
with  their  sacred  vessels  and  books. 

"  McCarthy's  church,  in  the  north-west  corner  of  the  cemetery,  was  built  by  the 
M'Carthy  More  of  Munster,  the  greatest  sept  in  Cork;  he  who  held  under  his  sway 
the  O'Learys  and  the  O'Sullivans  and  the  O'Donohus,  and  I  don't  know  how 
many  more  Milesian  O's  and  Macs.  It  is  a  curious  and  peculiarly  interesting  ruin, 
because,  as  I  said  before,  there  is  here  evident  proof  that  the  round  tower  and  church 
were  built  at  the  same  time  ;  for  besides  that  they  both  are  formed  of  the  same  kind  of 
stone,  and  are  constructed  with  the  same  range  and  character  of  masonry,  there  is 
part  of  the  rotundity  of  the  tower  sacrificed  to  give  play  to  the  full  span  of  the 
chancel-arch,  and  exhibits  one  of  the  most  chaste  specimens  in  the  world  of  what 
is  called  the  Saxon  arch.  This  tower  is  not  large  or  lofty ;  it  measures  but  seven 
feet  in  diameter  within,  and  is  but  fifty-five  feet  high  ;  it  has  a  conical  cap,  which 
is  essential,  according  to  antiquarians,  to  make  a  round  tower  perfect ;  and  a  free- 
mason, supposing  he  was  master  of  his  craft,  would  say,  'Well  done,'  to  the  artist 
who  constructed  the  beautiful  courses  of  cut  stone  by  which  the  cut  cap  was 
brought  to  a  point.  As  I  have  already  said,  the  door  of  the  tower  is  level  with  the 
ground,  and  I  think  I  could  discern  the  marks  of  stairs  that  rose  spirally  to  the 
top;  unlike  all  other  round  towers,  which,  though  there  are  marks  of  floors,  story 
over  story,  in  no  other  instance  present  marks  of  spiral  stairs." 

The  Shannon  from  Portumna  to  Castle-Connell,  including  Loch  Derg,  is  very 
like  an  American  river,  and  except  that  its  banks  are  so  poorly  wooded,  it  is  equal 
in  majestic  natural  beauty  to  several  of  our  large  waters.  There  is  no  point  very 
strikingly  picturesque,  however,  till  we  reach  the  ruined  castle  of  the  Kings  of 
Munster,  the  warlike  O'Briens,  and  here  the  Shannon  for  a  considerable  distance 
resembles  the  Rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  At  the  RAPIDS  OF  DUN  ASS,  as  they  are 
called,  the  whole  body  of  the  Shannon  pours  over  a  mass  of  rocks  descending  consi- 
derably for  half  a  mile,  and  into  this  picture  conies  the  town  of  Castle-Connell, 
with  its  fine  mansions,  green  lawns,  and  lofty  towers,  which  adds  much  to  the 
natural  beauty  of  the  river. 

From  this  point  to  Limerick  the  Shannon  is  not  navigable  by  boats,  but  the  road 
runs  close  to  the  river-bank,  and  the  beauty  of  the  scene  may  thus  be  enjoyed  by 
the  traveller.  There  is  much  finer  wood  below  than  above  Castle-Connell,  and  the 
country-seats  are  numerous  and  fine;  Mount  Shannon,  Lord  Clare's  residence, 
perhaps  the  finest  among  them.  Lady  Chatterton  in  her  agreeable  book  mentions 
that  there  is  a  tradition  among  the  peasantry  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Castle-Connell, 
that  the  ruins  of  the  old  castle  above  the  town  will  fall  upon  the  wisest  person  in 
the  world  if  he  should  chance  to  pass  under.  A  gentleman  of  much  consideration 

VOL.  i.  E  E 


106  SCENERY    OP    IRELANI>. 

in  the  neighbourhood  fancied  himself  entitled  to  the  honour  of  being  crushed  by 
them.  He  never  could  be  prevailed  on  to  approach  the  ruins,  and  when  obliged  to 
ride  along  the  high  road  to  Limerick,  which  runs  near,  he  always  passed  the  dan- 
gerous spot  at  full  gallop. 

I  think  no  American  traveller  would  enter  Limerick  without  exclaiming  in  the 
principal  street,  "  How  very  like  New  York  ! "  The  tall  and  handsome  brick-houses, 
the  iron  railings,  the  broad  and  clean  sidewalks,  and  something,  it  struck  me  too,  in 
the  dress  and  style  of  the  people  reminded  me  very  forcibly  of  my  country.  There 
was  a  chapel-bell  ringing  for  an  evening  lecture,  (it  was  just  twilight,)  and  well- 
dressed  persons  were  coming  to  it  from  all  quarters,  and  this  church-going  feature 
perhaps  contributed  its  share  to  the  resemblance.  I  had  had  two  hours  of  daylight 
ramble  through  the  town  before  the  evening  shut  in ;  and  I  must  record  my  agree- 
able surprise  at  the  beauty  and  thriftiness  of  the  fair  town  of  Limerick.  In  the 
morning  I  rose  early,  and  mounted  to  get  a  view  of  LIMERICK  AND  THE  SHANNON 
PROM  THE  CATHEDRAL  TOWER.  This  fine  river,  with  its  handsome  bridges,  gives  a 
grandeur  to  the  view  which  would  otherwise  be  wanting  to  so  flat  a  country ;  yet 
in  the  charms  of  cultivation  and  quiet  loveliness,  the  panorama  from  this  ele- 
vated point  is  well  worth  the  seeking.  My  guide  called  on  me  to  admire  the 
size  of  the  bells,  and  with  the  words  "  Limerick  bells,"  the  story  connected  with 
them  at  once,  and  for  the  first  time  since  my  arrival  in  the  town,  recurred  to  my 
memory.  "  The  remarkable  fine  bells  of  Limerick,"  so  runs  the  story,  "  were 
originally  brought  from  Italy:  they  had  been  manufactured  by  a  young  native, 
(whose  name  tradition  has  not  preserved,)  and  finished  after  the  toil  of  many  years, 
and  he  prided  himself  upon  his  work.  They  were  subsequently  purchased  by  the 
prior  of  a  neighbouring  convent;  and  with  the  profits  of  this  sale  the  young  Italian 
procured  a  little  villa,  where  he  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  the  tolling  of  his  bells 
from  the  convent-cliff,  and  of  growing  old  in  the  bosom  of  domestic  happiness. 
This  however  was  not  to  continue :  in  some  of  those  broils,  whether  civil  or  foreign, 
which  are  the  undying  worm  in  the  peace  of  a  fallen  land,  the  good  Italian  was  a 
sufferer  amongst  many.  He  lost  his  all ;  and,  after  the  passing  of  the  storm,  found 
himself  preserved  alone  amid  the  wreck  of  fortune,  friends,  family,  and  home.  The 
convent  in  which  the  bells,  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  his  skill,  were  hung,  was  razed  to 
the  earth,  and  these  last  carried  away  to  another  land.  The  unfortunate  owner, 
haunted  by  his  memories  and  deserted  by  his  hopes,  became  a  wanderer  over 
Europe.  His  hair  grew  grey  and  his  heart  withered  before  he  again  found  a  home 
and  a  friend.  In  this  desolation  of  spirit  he  formed  the  resolution  of  seeking  the 
place  to  which  those  treasures  of  his  memory  had  been  finally  borne.  He  sailed 
for  Ireland,  proceeded  up  the  Shannon  ;  the  vessel  anchored  in  the  pool  near 
Limerick,  and  he  hired  a  small  boat  for  the  purpose  of  landing.  The  city  was  now 


OF  iam 


.ft»xxi  fcucicd  himself  eiii, 


ouid  «jt*r 
»vr  York  !  '  The 
-id«w«lk...  ai 


the  honour  of  being  crushed  by 
:h  the  ruins,  and  when  obliged  to 
•Mr,  he  always  passed  the  dan- 

^  without  exclaiming  in  the 

mtethiflg,  it  struck  me  too,  in 
~t  my  country.     There 
:;  '«'thjht,)  and  well- 

<l"<>  *'""     ; -cimig  feature 

)••.!.!  uv(.  hours  of  daylight 

>TI  ;  and  I  must  record  nay  ag-ree- 

i    Limerick.     In  the 

•  •'•:'•  ICK    ..»M)   TUB  SlIANMON 

handsome  bridges,  gives  a 
i  flat  a  fountry  ;  yet 
.  ••.*-,  ill.:   pan  -ruma  from    this  ele- 
u<c  to  admire  the 
tt'i-y  •  'iinoctc'l  with 
iwn.  'i  rurrfid  to  my 
••'.  -ry,  "  were 
•   i  youiit:  native, 
'  •'!  of  mawy  years, 
''•_•  f"ir<-liu-.ed  by  the 
iht-  yming  Italian 
illmg  oi  his  bells 
•".••Stic   happiness. 
' ••  -r  civil  or  foreign, 
'on'!,  (f>r  s.'i».xl  Italian  was  a 
"!>e  pasorv.  ..(the  storm,  found 
,  frifnds,  tsHjiily,  and  home.   The 
ft»  skill,  nrre  hung,  was  razed  to 
K*r  land,     i'he  unfortunate  owner, 
hope.-     became  a  wanderer  over 
wred  before  h«  again  found  a  home 
nwd  the  n  h->!ution  of  seeking  the 
Nl  been  finally  borne.     He  sa, 
VM*el  anchotcii  in  the  pool  near 
o*e  of  landing.     The  city  WMJ|^| 


SCENERY    OP    IU1 

before  him,  .-»»*!   h<    l>,  iieid  St.  Mars  '?• 

«.;,t.i 

it.     It  waa  ar  •  ;•>,..      ': 

haven  in  -         -•-    *  ""*.•'  v»-  ?  «.-thc  ..• 

»  noiseless  expedition.      *>!•.  *  •.*<!«!.,  ~;f;-u)  ; 


hffl  amis  6n  his.  ^jr 
lections',  fripndfc,' 


the  ca'.h'-'.lral,  Ixit-'h)^ 
cold-1" 

"Dt'sci'rfdmsf-  fr'vii  thi- 
the  HiLtpidat^aaoiKiitio 
-the  old-limfn  side,  l/>"->  i 
of  wliu'li  still'show  ni>' 
in  with  i  IK-  ol<l,ini'l  it  I 


tho  eit 
Limeri 


of  Clare,  i*  t)n? 

has  all  the  aur,«|.i.vl,  j 


ouen,  n 

of  the  chel^fM^liVttn  of  f  -'-'H*  •-.»••  •    !>•    J  • 

verda;             '  'n-'V-^j  «vti-«\'i  --ft    t    r»>*l.<i'i  ,   •  »•   tjj.     -VI 

pleasant]-  6    'ts^dlftiis-v  rH,T)Ui»titin:      J  t*  ;*t-a':id  •  : 

is  built  is'ralh-  . .  .LI..J-  the  ^oi  i«  ,  ;»-',r-.  *1  V'rm.vHly-  aj.«t  ;J 

spacious.  '   ;-   •   ^••'  ••>]   -I  hy 

men  i!i'd»li*»rt*t^o^,  f'oi  «h*r 

distr  .   '«   'iv    H             •' ,  »    -\< 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND  107 

before  him,  and  he  beheld  St.  Mary's  steeple,  lifting  its  turreted  head  above  the 
smoke  and  mist  of  the  old  town.  He  sat  in  the  stern  and  looked  fondly  towards 
it.  It  was  an  evening  so  calm  and  beautiful  as  to  remind  him  of  his  own  native 
haven  in  the  sweetest  time  of  the  year— the  depth  of  the  spring.  The  broad  stream 
appeared  like  one  smooth  mirror,  and  the  little  vessel  glided  through  it  with  almost 
a  noiseless  expedition.  On  a  sudden,  amid  the  general  stillness,  the  bells  tolled 
from  the  cathedral ;  the  rowers  rested  on  their  oars,  and  the  vessel  went  forward 
with  the  impulse  it  had  received.  The  old  Italian  looked  towards  the  city,  crossed 
his  arms  on  his  breast,  and  lay  back  in  his  seat ;  home,  happiness,  early  recol- 
lections, friends,  family — all  were  in  the  sound,  and  went  with  it  to  his  heart. 
When  the  rowers  looked  round  they  beheld  him  with  his  face  still  turned  towards 
the  cathedral,  but  his  eyes  were  closed,  and  when  they  landed  they  found  him 
cold  !" 

Descending  from  the  cathedral  tower  with  more  difficulty  than  I  ascended,  from 
the  dilapidated  condition  of  the  narrow  stone  staircase,  I  kept  down  the  Shannon  on 
the  old-town  side,  to  visit  the  ancient  CASTLE  OF  KING  JOHN,  the  fine  round  towers 
of  which  still  show  nobly  in  every  view  from  the  other  shore.  New  walls  are  built 
in  with  the  old,  and  if  I  remember  rightly,  the  castle  is  now  used  as  a  police-station, 
but  it  preserves  its  grandeur  amid  all  the  modern  tenements  which  surround  it.  The 
old  town,  through  the  narrow  streets  of  which  I  had  made  my  way,  is  a  very 
different  place  from  the  newer  Limerick,  and  as  Mr.  Inglis  remarks,  a  person  entering 
the  city  by  this  avenue,  and  taking  up  his  quarters  there,  would  infallibly  set  down 
Limerick  as  the  very  vilest  town  he  had  ever  entered.  "  The  city  is  composed," 
says  an  historical  writer,  "  of  the  English-town,  the  Irish-town,  and  the  New-town- 
Perry.  The  first  stands  on  the  northern  side  of  the  river,  being  separated  from  the 
latter  by  a  narrow  arm  of  the  Shannon,  which  embraces  the  English-town  in  its  entire 
circumference;  and  on  the  north-west  side  of  the  great  branch  of  the  river,  in  the  county 
of  Clare,  is  the  extensive  and  populous  suburb  of  Thomondgate.  The  English-town 
has  all  the  antiquated  appearance  of  a  close-built  fortress,  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century:  its  venerable  cathedral,  narrow  streets,  and  lofty  houses,  chiefly 
built  in  the  Dutch  or  Flemish  fashion,  are  said  to  give  it  a  considerable  resemblance  to 
Rouen  in  Normandy.  This  gloom  is  however  relieved  at  various  openings  by  a  view 
of  the  cheering  -waters  of  the  Shannon,  while  the  vicinity  of  the  canal,  and  the 
verdant  fields  and  gardens  which  skirt  the  borders  of  the  Abbey-river,  afford  a 
pleasant  promenade  to  its  dense  population.  The  ground  on  which  the  New-town 
is  built  is  rather  elevated,  and  the  soil  is  general  gravelly  and  dry.  The  streets  are 
spacious,  cut  each  other  at  right-angles,  and  are  occupied  by  elegant  houses  and 
merchants'  stores,  constructed  of  brick  and  limestone,  for  which  the  neighbouring 
district  supplies  the  finest  materials.  A  more  superb  city-view  can  hardly  be  pre- 


JOS  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

sented  to  the  eye,  than  the  range  of  buildings  from  the  new  bridge  to  the  Crescent, 
a  distance  little  short  of  an  English  mile,  including  Rutland-street,  Patrick-street, 
George's-street,  and  the  Tontine ;  and  its  interest  will  be  greatly  heightened  when 
the  line  of  buildings  is  continued  from  the  Crescent  along  the  military  road,  and 
the  projected  square  built  on  its  left.  Shops,  tastefully  laid  out  and  richly  furnished, 
line  these  streets,  while  others  diverge  to  the  right  and  left,  which  are  chiefly  occu- 
pied by  the  residences  of  the  gentry.  At  every  opening  to  the  westward  salubrious 
breezes  from  the  Shannon  inspire  health  and  vigour ;  and  a  walk  to  the  quays  is 
amply  compensated  by  the  scenes  of  busy  traffic  there  presented,  and  the  various 
enlivening  prospects  which  meet  the  eye.  Here  the  packet-boat  from  Kilrush  is 
landing  her  joyous  passengers,  whose  nerves  have  been  braced  and  spirits  exhila- 
rated by  some  weeks'  residence  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  at  Kilkee  or  Malbay. 
There  turf-  and  fish-boats  are  discharging  their  cargoes,  which  are  rapidly  conveyed 
by  Herculean  porters  to  the  dwellings  of  the  consumers,  amidst  various  specimens 
of  Munster  wit,  sometimes  delivered  in  the  native  language,  and  sometimes  in  Anglo- 
Irish.  On  the  west  are  seen  the  distant  towers  of  Carrig-o-gunnell  Castle,  and  the  Pool, 
where  the  larger  ships  ride  at  anchor  in  perfect  security,  while  many  a  skiff  cuts  the 
blue  wave.  On  the  east  appear  the  mill  of  Curragour,  built  in  1672,  and  its  rapid 
current,  which  roars  and  eddies  amidst  rocks  of  various  shapes  and  sizes  ;  the  bridge 
of  Thomond,  hoary  with  age ;  and  the  ivy-mantled  turrets  of  King  John's  Castle, 
backed  by  the  mountains  of  Clare  and  Tipperary.  The  city  contains  nearly  fifty 
public  edifices,  about  one-half  of  which  stand  on  the  south-west  side  of  the 
river. 

"  The  liberties  comprehend  about  sixteen  thousand  Irish  acres,  extending  from 
three  to  four  miles  south,  east,  and  west  of  the  old  city  walls. 

"  The  parish  of  St.  Michael's,  or  the  New-town  of  Limerick,  is  divided  from  the 
old  city  by  a  branch  of  the  Shannon  :  it  is  described  as  containing  two  thousand 
houses  and  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  and  as  comprising  all  the  wealth  and  trade 
of  the  city." 

I  returned  to  English-town  by  THOMOND  BRIDGE,  one  of  the  oldest  structures 
in  this  part  of  Ireland.  There  were  several  bridges  thrown  across  the  Shannon  in 
the  twelfth  century,  two  of  them  by  King  Turlough  O'Connor.  It  is  supposed, 
however,  that  these  were  of  wood,  and  that  the  first  stone  bridges  were  erected  by 
the  Anglo-Normans.  Thomond  Bridge  ranks  as  the  most  ancient  of  these,  having 
been  erected  by  the  English  adventurers  as  a  necessary  step  to  their  intended  sub- 
jugation of  the  ancient  province  of  Thomond.  This  simple  and  apparently  unskilful 
structure  is  perfectly  level,  and  is  built  on  fourteen  arches,  under  each  of  which 
some  marks  of  the  hurdles  on  which  it  was  erected  are  still  visible.  According  to 
tradition,  the  original  expense  of  building  it  was  but  thirty  pounds.  There  are  also 


than  the  rang*. of  h 

,    r',uiiH»h 

,il  the  T  inline  ;  and 
•_-  is  ointtnued  tro 


bridge  to  the  Cres. 
id-street,  Patrickr?' 
really  heightened  v. 
[  Uie  military  ^oad,  and 
iut  and  richly  furni- 
wfiich  are  chiefly  occu- 
tHf  wesUvttrd  salubrious 
4  ,%alk  to  the  quays  is 
•c.^.i'iv!.  *nj   the  various 

:  !>-.»:  ('r^m  Kilrui-U  is 
aced  and  spirits  cxhila- 
ic  lit  Kilkee  or  Slalbay. 

i.  ;iv<;  rapidly  conveyed 


es  in  Anglo- 
utid  the  Pool, 
skiH'cuts  the 


<  nearly  fifty 

viid,.    nl"    I  IIP 


(-\  tending  from 

ivided  from  the 

two  thousand 

ealth  and  trade 


,  -me,  til  the  oldest  structure! 
throws  ucross  the  Shannon  in, 
OX'ooaor..    It  is  supposed, 
«•  •  .,   tijidges  were  erecl 
noi-t  ancient  of  these,  h. 
to  t' 


yl' 


tradition,  the 


l  e 


4*.  tit'.'1...     •'     vi 

. 


some  picturesque  ruin*  of  BAAJ.'S 
of  WELLi.srjfv    il«iiH-,B,   lately 


some  di*tuiuw,  prewentf-'.  fbr    . 
of  the  Simmon  a*  a  nie<l"»?"  <>< 
they  arr  v  -•!!  ilevelopt-ti  in  ,.n  ^r1 
extract  a  (xirlion.    "  The  rran. 
;   but  all  else  ^oin-i-.-ni  • 
ifrH  from  t!;t  c.(-\ 
a  river  oi* about  th'i  sa.uf  i'j>- 
in  a  \Mfir:  :u'.i'  TI:I  niix'iii:  > 
rosoiin-  s  and  rcroarkij  "•    •    ' 


siona 


Killalue,  ji 
twenty -Uir 
but  the  na 
to  its  moui 


the  equable  ftojir  of 
a  canal, 

VOL.  !. 


•*« 


1;-. .,.  '   •:  ,.     ,»!•,<:  •£     lU     IXUlks 


\ 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  109 

some  picturesque  ruins  of  BAAL'S  BRIDGE,  now  pulled  down.  The  new  structure 
of  WELLESLEY  BRIDGE,  lately  finished,  is  very  handsome — erected  from  the 
designs  of  the  late  Alexander  Nimmo. 

The  piers  near  these  bridges  were  crowded  with  vessels,  and  the  river-side,  for 
some  distance,  presented  the  aspect  of  busy  and  thriving  trade.  The  capabilities 
of  the  Shannon  as  a  medium  of  trade  have  been  very  much  discussed  of  late,  and 
they  are  well  developed  in  an  article  in  the  Dublin  Penny  Journal,  from  which  we 
extract  a  portion.  "  The  name  of  the  river  Shannon  is  familiar  to  the  people  of  this 
kingdom  ;  but  all  else  concerning  it  is  known  to  very  few  indeed.  Most  persons 
have  learned  from  the  common  geographies,  that  in  the  centre  of  Ireland  there  rises 
a  river  of  about  the  same  length  as  the  Thames,  which,  flowing  through  ten  counties 
in  a  wide  and  fertilizing  course,  pours  its  waters  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  great 
resources  and  remarkable  peculiarities  of  this  river  are  still,  however,  little  thought 
of  and  little  understood.  To  those  who  have  witnessed  the  eagerness  with  which  in 
England  the  favours  of  nature  are  seized  on  and  rendered  available,  and  the  indefa- 
tigable zeal  with  which  her  difficulties  are  overcome,  it  may  well  be  matter  of  surprise 
that  the  Shannon  does  not  enjoy  the  common  facilities  of  unaided  river  navigation. 
Yet  not  only  is  this  the  case,  but  its  superior  adaptation  and  vast  capabilities  for  all 
the  purposes  of  commercial  communication,  are  but  imperfectly  known  to  those  most 
interested  in  the  subject.  A  good  deal  of  attention  has  latterly  been  given  to  the 
question  of  the  improvement  of  the  Shannon. 

"  Lough  Allen,  in  the  county  of  Leitrim,  supplied  by  streams  from  the  high  and 
rugged  mountains  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  forms  the  source  in  which  the  Shannon 
is  considered  to  rise.  The  lake  is  about  ten  miles  long,  and  is  deeply  imbedded  in 
lofty  hills,  which  contain  rich  and  copious  stores  of  iron  and  coal.  Out  of  Lough 
Allen  the  river  flows  in  a  narrow  and  rather  shallow  and  impeded  channel ;  occa- 
sionally however  widening  into  small  lakes,  between  the  counties  of  Leitrim  and 
Roscommon,  to  Savesborough,  where  it  expands  into  the  great  Lough  Allen,  twenty 
miles  long  and  in  some  parts  four  broad.  For  thirty-seven  miles  to  Portumna,  the 
channel  is  more  confined  ;  but  it  is  still  a  bold  and  wide  river.  From  Portumna  to 
Killaloe,  its  course  is  through  Lough  Derg,  the  largest  of  the  Shannon  lakes,  being 
twenty-three  miles  long.  At  Killaloe  it  resumes  the  character  of  an  ordinary  river; 
but  the  navigation  thence  to  Limerick  is  contracted  and  difficult.  From  Limerick 
to  its  mouth,  the  Shannon  is  a  tideway,  and  appears  in  fact  a  great  estuary  or  arm 
of  the  sea. 

"  From  this  sketch  of  the  Shannon's  course,  it  is  manifest  that  it  possesses 
characteristics  altogether  different  from  those  of  the  chief  rivers  of  England.  Unlike 
the  equable  flow  of  the  Thames  through  its  confined  bed,  differing  but  little  from 
a  canal,  and  admitting  in  much  of  its  length  of  tracking  along  its  banks,  the 

VOL.  i.  F  F 


HO  SCENERY    OP    IllELA.ND. 

Shannon  pours  its  waters  unconstrained  through  a  very  various  country :  now,  with 
many  falls,  hastening  past  its  rugged  and  uneven  shores ;  and  now,  with  gentle 
stream,  coasting  the  low  and  rich  meadows,  which  in  winter  the  flood  overflows ; 
sometimes  with  close  and  narrow  channel,  and  then  opening  into  great  lakes,  like 
inland  seas,  studded  with  islands.  Towing  with  horses  on  the  banks  can  therefore 
be  but  little  employed,  and  steam-vessels  must  be  used  to  drag  the  loaded  boats 
across  the  numerous  loughs.  In  one  respect  the  Shannon  is  unequalled  by  any 
river  that  we  know  of.  From  the  sea  to  its  head,  a  course  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four  miles,  it  is  navigable  throughout.  After  the  removal  of  some  obstruc- 
tions, and  increasing  the  depth  of  the  water  in  a  few  places,  a  barge  of  fifty  tons 
burden  may  pass  along  its  entire  length  from  Lough  Allen  to  the  Atlantic. 

"  Ten  counties  possess  the  advantage  of  the  proximity  of  the  Shannon,  which,  at 
the  lowest  average,  waters  fifty  miles  of  shore  of  each.  What  incalculable  benefits 
then  must  accrue  to  this  extensive  district,  by  rendering  the  navigation  thoroughly 
available  for  the  purposes  of  intercourse !  The  soils  of  the  counties  bordering  on 
the  river,  and  consequently  their  productions,  are  different.  Hitherto,  notwithstand- 
ing the  existence  at  their  doors  of  a  noble  river,  there  have  been  no  means  of  inter- 
change. A  famine  may  rage  in  Leitrim  and  plenty  prevail  in  Tipperary,  yet  the 
river  Shannon  affords  no  aid  for  the  conveyance  of  the  surplus  produce  of  the  one 
to  supply  the  wants  of  the  other.  Potatos  may  be  very  cheap  in  the  south,  and 
yet  hardly  to  be  procured  in  the  north ;  turf  may  be  had  in  one  county  for  little 
more  than  the  trouble  of  cutting  it,  while  in  another,  at  no  considerable  distance, 
the  people  may  be  suffering  intensely  from  the  want  of  fuel.  Yet  the  Shannon- 
intended  by  nature  as  a  great  artery  for  the  conveyance  of  commerce,  that  lifeV 
blood  of  a  people's  prosperity — is  not  merely  useless  for  the  purposes  of  mutual 
assistance  and  communication  among  the  inhabitants  of  its  banks,  but  is  actually 
a  bar  and  impediment  to  their  intercourse.  Mr.  Rhodes  remarks,  that  the  grand 
designs  of  nature  have  been  in  a  great  measure  frustrated,  and  the  river  may  not 
unaptly  be  compared  to  a  sealed  book.  Were  the  navigation  completed,  how 
valuable  in  its  effects  would  be  the  ready  interchange  of  commodities  amongst  the 
various  districts  along  its  shores,  extending  and  making  equal  the  comforts  of  the 
people  ;  aiding  to  remove  the  dangers  of  famine  by  opening  to  each  locality  the 
resources  of  all,  and  increasing  the  wealth  and  knowledge  of  the  peasantry  by 
the  introduction  of  trade  and  all  its  attendant  benefits  !  The  transport  of  agricul- 
tural produce  throughout  the  country  bordering  on  the  Shannon,  would,  however, 
form  a  small  portion  of  the  commerce  of  the  river.  Considerable  quantities  of 
corn  are  now  conveyed  by  the  Shannon  and  Grand  Canal  to  Dublin,  for  expor- 
tation to  Liverpool ;  and  this  trade  would  be  vastly  increased  by  the  improve- 
ment of  the  river.  The  mountains  of  Leitrim,  round  Lough  Allen,  abound  in  iron 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  11] 

and  coal.  Here  are  situated  the  Angna  iron-works,  producing  about  sixty  tons  of 
wrought  iron  per  week  :  the  quantity  might  be  much  increased  by  the  opening  of 
the  navigation.  The  extensive  coal-beds  of  this  valuable  district  could  also  pro- 
duce sufficient  fuel  for  the  entire  country  along  the  Shannon,  were  roads  formed  and 
the  river  laid  open  to  the  workings  of  industry  and  enterprise.  There  are  excellent 
slate-quarries  at  Killaloe  and  other  places ;  and  marble,  lime,  and  stone  of  every 
description  may  be  procured  in  several  districts  close  to  the  river ;  besides  many 
natural  productions  at  present  unknown  or  disregarded, — inaccessible  they  may  be 
said  to  be  from  the  wretched  state  of  the  navigation. 

"  The  extent  of  the  country  which  would  be  immediately  affected  by  the  com- 
pletion of  this  great  line  of  communication,  has  been  estimated  at  two  million 
acres,  in  the  heart  of  the  island,  rich  in  its  various  soils  and  numerous  produc- 
tions ;  yet  where  the  peasantry  are  in  the  most  miserable  state  of  destitution, 
scarcely  sustaining  life  by  the  wretched  resources  of  poverty,  numbers  of  them  annu- 
ally emigrating  to  England  to  obtain  that  employment  denied  them  at  home.  Many 
districts  of  this  country  have  been  among  the  most  disturbed  and  disorderly  in 
Ireland.  The  providing  of  occupation,  and  of  profitable  markets  for  the  produce 
of  the  soil,  will  vastly  promote  the  peace  and  wealth  of  the  country ;  and  the 
increased  comforts  of  the  people  will  dispose  them  to  habits  of  order  and  civiliza- 
tion. The  introduction  of  British  manufactures  must  greatly  tend  to  elevate  the 
condition  of  the  people,  and  to  enrich  the  English  merchant,  very  important  consi- 
derations in  the  discussion  of  our  subject.  The  imports  from  Great  Britain  increase 
progressively  each  year,  and  must  be  much  advanced  by  introducing  so  extensive 
a  tract  to  all  the  wants  of  civilized  society.  The  advantages  of  a  great  home- 
market,  whose  demands  are  unaffected  by  political  circumstances,  cannot  but  be 
appreciated  by  the  manufacturer.  The  benefits  attending  the  completion  of  the 
Shannon  navigation  cannot  be  anticipated  :  many  years  must  elapse  before  they  are 
fully  in  operation ;  depending,  as  they  must,  so  much  upon  the  concurrent  circum- 
stances of  the  general  state  of  the  country,  as  respects  the  condition  and  habits  of 
the  people,  as  well  as  the  progress  of  other  public  improvements.  The  opening  of 
the  river  will  have  but  a  partial  influence,  unless  followed  by  the  formation  of  roads 
to  its  banks,  and  the  execution  of  other  works  necessary  to  facilitate  the  transport 
of  the  productions  of  the  country,  and  to  promote  the  intercourse  between  tne 
Shannon  and  the  districts  more  remote  from  its  shores.  As  the  intelligence,  the 
habits,  and  comforts  of  the  people,  and  their  mode  of  agriculture  improve,  the 
trade  of  the  Shannon  will  advance ;  and  in  the  present  and  disgraceful  condition 
of  the  inhabitants,  we  cannot  form  any  reasonable  estimate  of  the  valuable  conse- 
quences of  the  too-long  delayed  completion  of  this  great  work. 

"  The  general  wants  of  the  navigation  of  the  Shannon  are  simple  in  their  nature, 


112  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

and  easily  effected  :  the  deepening  of  the  channel  in  some  places — the  placing  of 
beacons  and  buoys,  so  essential  in  a  river  liable  to  great  floods,  and  consequently  of 
such  variable  width  and  depth — the  erection  of  piers  and  landing-places — the 
formation  of  a  complete  system  of  roads  to  its  banks  from  the  surrounding  country 
and  the  neighbouring  towns  and  villages.  But  above  all,  and  without  which  all 
else  is  useless  or  impracticable,  the  entire  navigation  should  be  placed  under  the 
control  of  an  efficient  and  active  body,  responsible  for  its  maintenance  in  a  perfect 
and  available  condition,  who  should  be  guided  in  their  management,  not  by  their 
desire  of  profit,  but  solely  with  the  view  of  rendering  the  river  as  useful  and  acces- 
sible as  possible  to  the  public." 


XV 


THE  Shannon  below  Limerick  is  a  broad  and  noble  stream,  but  the  nakedness  of 
the  shores  deprived  it  of  all  charm  for  me.  It  is  besides  flat  and  sterile-looking  ; 
;tnd  after  losing  sight  of  the  fine  ruins  of  Carrig-o-Gonnell,  I  found  the  passage 
wearisome  enough  till  we  reached  the  domain  of  the  great  benefactor  of  this  part 
nf  the  country,  Lord  Monteagle,  and  began  to  near  my  destination  at  Tarbert.  The 
Knight  of  Kerry  has  a  fine  place  in  this  neighbourhood  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river,  and  these  two  form  oases  in  the  desert.  The  SHANNON  NEAR  TARBEHT 
assumes  the  look  of  an  estuary,  and  the  view  here  is  altogether  finer  than  farther 
up.  I  confess  to  great  disappointment  in  the  Shannon  however,  malgre  the  occa- 
sional beauties  at  and  above  Limerick:  my  expectations  were  too  highly  raised. 
Moore's  poem  of  St.  Senanus,  (whose  "  Sacred  Isle"  is  just  below  Tarbert,)  and 
Sir  Aubrey  de  Vere's  elegant  sonnet,  give  a  romance  to  the  Shannon,  which  paints 
it,  in  the  fancy,  too  flatteringly. 

"  River  of  billows!  to  whose  mighty  heart 
The  tide-wave  rushes  of  the  Atlantic  sea — 
River  of  quiet  depths  !  by  cultured  lea, 
Romantic  wood,  or  city's  crowded  mart- 
River  of  old  poetic  founts !  that  start 
From  their  lone  mountain-cradles,  wild  and  free, 
Nursed  with  the  fawns,  lulled  by  the  wood-larks'  glee, 
And  cushat's  hymeneal  song  apart ! — 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  113 

River  of  chieftains,  whose  baronial  halls 
Like  veteran  warders  watch  each  wave-worn  steep, 

Portumna's  towers,  Bunratty's  regal  walls, 
Carrick's  stern  rock,  the  Geraldane's  grey  keep — 

River  of  dark  mementoes — must  I  close 

My  lips  with  Limerick's  wrongs — with  Aughrim's  woes  !'' 

The  steamer  passes  Scattery  Island  after  leaving  Tarbert,  and  a  food  view  is 
obtained  of  this  poetical  spot,  which  is  graced  with  a  round  tower,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  high,  and  various  ecclesiastical  ruins.  St.  Senanus  is  said  to  have 
established  a  place  of  worship  here  before  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick,  and  it  is  to 
this  day  a  place  of  Catholic  pilgrimage.  "  It  is  recorded  in  the  annals  of  Minister, 
that  in  the  year  975,  Brian  Boroihme  recovered  this  island  from  the  Danes ;  it  also 
appears  that  Queen  Elizabeth  granted  it  to  the  mayor  and  corporation  of  Limerick 
and  their  successors,  who  lately  established  their  right  thereto  by  a  suit  at  law.  The 
present  possessor,  a  gentleman  of  taste,  has  fitted  up  a  handsome  lodge,  and  added 
many  improvements." 

A  very  interesting  book,  called  Two  Months  at  Kilkee,  written  by  "  Mary  John 
Knott,"  and  embellished  with  some  clever  drawings,  gives  an  excellent  account  of 
this  little  watering-place,  and  we  must  be  indebted  to  it  for  a  description  of  the 
views  taken  by  the  artist  on  this  coast.  "  KILKEE,  or  Kilqui,  is  situated  at  Moore 
Bay,  on  the  western  coast  of  Ireland,  in  the  county  of  Clare,  about  fifty  English 
miles  from  Limerick,  one  hundred  and  seventy  from  Dublin,  and  twenty-five  from 
Ennis,  and  its  shore  is  washed  by  the  Atlantic.  Comparatively  but  a  few  years 
since  it  was  only  known  as  the  residence  of  fishermen,  whose  habitations  formed 
the  row  of  cottages  now  called  '  Old  Kilkee.'  At  present  there  are  upwards  of  one 
hundred  comfortable  houses  and  lodges  for  the  accommodation  of  visitors,  inde- 
pendent of  the  cottages  in  which  the  natives  reside.  Since  that  period  the  town  has 
been  gradually  rising  into  importance,  and  it  is  probable  will  ere  long,  from  the 
safety  of  its  strand,  and  other  peculiar  circumstances,  be  one  of  the  most  desirable 
watering-places  on  the  coast. 

"  The  town,  which  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  bay,  is  built  close  to  the  sea, 
and  assumes  a  semicircular  form  from  the  shape  of  the  strand,  which  presents  a 
smooth,  white,  sandy  surface  of  above  half  a  mile  in  length,  where  the  invalid  can, 
without  fatigue  or  interruption,  enjoy  the  exhilarating  sea-breeze  and  surrounding- 
scenery.  The  principal  street  runs  nearly  from  one  end  of  the  village  to  the  other ; 
these  extend  to  the  strand,  and  at  every  few  steps  afford  a  view  of  the  Atlantic 
wave  dashing  into  foam  against  the  cliffs  which  circumscribe  its  power,  and  the 
rocks  of  Duggana,  which  run  nearly  across  the  bay.  Some  of  the  houses  at  the 
'  west  end'  of  the  town,  as  well  as  a  few  in  the  village,  are  modern,  with  sufficient 
accommodation  (including  stabling  and  coach-houses)  for  the  family  of  a  nobleman 

VOL.   I.  GO 


114  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

or  gentleman  of  fortune ;  and  every  gradation  can  be  had,  down  to  a  cottage  with  a 
parlour,  two  small  bed-rooms,  and  kitchen,  the  rent  varying  according  to  the  accom- 
modation and  demand.  A  few  of  the  largest,  fully  furnished,  pay  from  £15  to 
£20  per  month;  but  the  average  for  comfortable,  good  lodges  is  from  £6  to 
£8,  and  the  smallest  from  £3  to  j£4,  including  a  plentiful  supply  of  milk, 
potatoes,  and  turf,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  place.  One  circumstance 
which  strongly  recommends  this  place  is  the  prevalence  of  cleanliness,  for  which 
the  houses,  beds,  and  natives  are  remarkable.  The  walls  of  several  new  lodges 
are  now  built,  and  I  am  informed  that  upwards  of  thirty  are  in  progress.  It  is 
however  evident,  that  many  of  the  people,  anxious  to  possess  a  lodge  and  reap 
the  summer  fruits,  have  overbuilt  themselves,  to  use  their  own  words.  A  large 
Roman  Catholic  chapel  has  been  lately  erected  near  the  road :  the  Protestant  place 
of  worship  is  but  temporarily  fitted  up  at  the  end  of  the  Marine  Parade.  It  is 
intended  to  build  a  handsome  edifice  for  this  purpose  in  the  centre  of  the  new 
square,  at  the  west  end.  The  surrounding  country  presents  a  very  bleak  aspect, 
•without  a  tree,  shrub,  or  garden-flower  to  enliven  its  surface.  A  number  of  poor 
cabins  diversify  the  scene  from  the  village  to  the  hilly  distance,  to  the  extreme  point 
of  which  the  hand  of  man  has  carried  cultivation. 

"  An  extensive  bog  reaches  to  the  skirts  of  the  town,  and  affords  a  plentiful 
supply  of  fuel  at  a  very  low  rate,  which  confers  an  incalculable  benefit  on  the  inha- 
bitants :  a  cheerful  fire  generally  enlivens  the  hearth  of  the  poorest  cottage.  There 
are  three  hotels  or  boarding-houses  in  the  town,  where  board  and  lodging  are  pro- 
vided for  about  twenty-five  shillings  per  week :  tolerably  well-appointed  jaunting- 
cars  are  now  amongst  the  advantages  whicli  this  town  affords.  There  are  two 
chalybeate  spas  in  and  near  Kilkee,  which,  it  is  said,  possess  properties  similar  to 
the  celebrated  waters  of  Castle  Connell.  One  of  them  is  situated,  as  already 
mentioned,  about  a  mile  distant ;  the  other  is  adjoining  the  town,  but  from  its  present 
neglected  state  and  difficulty  of  approach,  we  believe  it  is  little  frequented  by 
strangers.  These  obstacles  might,  however,  be  removed  at  a  trifling  expense,  if  a 
path  were  made  from  the  road  along  the  stream,  and  the  spa  covered  in  and  placed 
under  the  care  of  some  deserving  poor  person,  who,  by  a  small  allowance  from 
visitors,  might  be  able  to  gain  something  towards  a  livelihood :  these  healing  waters 
could  be  made  both  attractive  and  useful  to  the  invalid  visitors  of  Kilkee. 

'•'  Near  to  this  spot  the  antiquarian  may  gratify  his  taste  by  viewing  a  fine  old 
Danish  fort,  the  most  perfect  in  this  neighbourhood,  where  they  may  be  said  to 
abound.  It  lies  behind  the  town,  on  a  little  hill,  and  has  a  thick  bank  thrown  up 
all  round,  of  about  seven  hundred  feet  in  circumference  :  the  moat  or  ditch  is  about 
twenty-five  feet  wide,  the  centre  gradually  rises  from  sixteen  to  twenty  feet,  the 
summit  is  about  three  hundred  feet  in  circumference,  and  nearly  level.  On  the 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  \  ^5 

south  side  are  two  rather  small  openings,  which  lead  to  subterraneous  chambers, 
and  occupy  the  interior  of  the  centre  elevation :  they  are  said  to  be  extensive.  The 
neighbourhood  was  thrown  into  consternation  some  time  since  by  a  ventriloquist 
who  caused  sounds  of  distress  and  anguish  apparently  to  proceed  from  these  vaults. 
If  the  apertures  were  enlargea,  it  might  afford  an  inducement  to  the  curious  inquirer 
to  descend  and  explore  the  probable  storehouses  of  the  northern  depredators.  The 
lads  of  the  village  are  now  the  chief  visitors  of  this  antique  circle.  One  of  our 
party  was  informed  by  a  youth  that  it  was  a  fine  place  to  dry  clothes  in,  '  for  if 
all  the  rogues  in  the  county  Clare  came,  they  could  not  steal  them  ;  that  out  of  a 
joke  some  of  them  tried,  but  could  not  touch  one,  because  of  the  spirits  or  ghosts 
which  are  said  to  frequent  it;  also  that  some  time  since  the  landlord  wished  to 
have  the  mound  removed,  but  could  not  get  the  men  to  work  at  it,  as  they  o-ot 
afraid.'  If  it  were  really  the  landlord's  intention  to  have  it  removed,  we  need  not 
be  surprised  at  the  result,  as  a  disposition  prevails  in  most  places  amono-st  the 
country  people  not  to  level  their  favourite  old  circles. 

"  The  strand  this  morning  presented  an  unusual  scene  of  bustle. 

'  Spring-tides  returned,  and  Fortune  smiled;  the  bay 
Received  the  rusliiny  ocean  to  its  breast.' 

Men  and  women  were  to  be  seen  in  all  directions  removing  seaweed  which  they 
had  cut  from  the  rocks,  and  brought  to  the  shore  in  canoes,  together  with  large 
quantities  of  the  long-weed,  which  they  tied  together  in  great  bundles,  and  which 
floated  in  with  the  tide,  propelling  with  them  all  that  was  loose  between  them  and 
the  shore.  This  scene  brought  to  our  recollection  Capt.  Cooke's  description  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Otaheite.  The  women  appeared  quite  as  active  as  the  men  in  leaping 
in  and  out  of  the  canoes,  standing  in  the  sea  up  to  their  waists,  and  in  that  state 
rilling  carts  and  creels,  which  were  placed  contiguous  to  the  sea  to  receive  the  load- 
ings. There  is  one  kind  on  which  they  set  the  highest  value ;  it  consists  of  many 
leaves,  some  of  them  three  yards  long,  attached  to  a  stalk  of  considerable  strength : 
this  they  use  for  manuring  potato-ground,  the  soil  here  being  particularly  poor  and 
sterile.  This  was  a  scene  of  enjoyment  to  the  young  natives,  especially  the  little 
girls,  who,  with  their  frocks  drawn  up,  and  neatly  fastened  round  their  waists  to 
keep  them  dry,  ran  in  and  out  of  the  water  like  amphibious  creatures :  to  young 
and  old  it  appeared  like  the  joyous  scene  of  a  harvest-home. 

"  We  were  much  amused  in  observing  the  dexterity  of  about  a  dozen  young 
girls,  who  went  to  assist  in  pushing  off  a  canoe  with  two  men  in  it,  who  had  long 
laboured  without  success  to  get  clear  of  the  land,  owing  to  the  resistance  of  the 
waves.  With  a  considerable  effort  the  little  folks  pushed  it  off;  but  whilst  the  men 
were  congratulating  themselves  on  getting  clear  of  the  laud,  and  preparing  to  row 


116  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND, 

away,  the  lighthearted  lasses,  bent  on  diversion,  watched  the  returning  wave,  and 
archly  uniting  their  efforts,  drew  the  canoe  and  its  cargo  on  dry  land,  and  ran  away 
highly  delighted. 

"  The  day  being  unusually  fine,  induced  us  to  take  an  excursion  on  the  water ; 
but  here,  as  in  some  other  bathing-places,  much  cannot  be  said  of  boat-accommo- 
dation. The  natives  use  canoes  for  fishing,  which  are.  the  only  description  of  boat 
to  be  found  along  this  coast.  About  twenty  of  these  comprise  the  fishing-establish- 
ment at  Kilkee :  they  are  composed  of  a  frame  of  light  timber  or  strong  wicker- 
work,  covered  with  sailcloth,  rendered  waterproof  with  pitch  and  tar.  The  best 
kinds  have  slight  timber  hoops  to  support  the  cloth,  which  is  an  improvement.  A 
few  years  since  they  were  covered  with  horse-  and  cow-hides,  after  the  custom  ot 
r.he  ancient  Irish.  These  little  vessels  have  neither  keel  nor  rudder ;  they  are  parti- 
cularly calculated  to  skiin  over  the  surface  of  the  waves,  and  pass  safely  amongst 
the  rocks  on  this  dangerous  shore,  where  a  timber-boat  might  be  dashed  to  pieces. 
The  expert  rowers,  with  a  light  paddle  or  oar  in  each  hand,  glide  very  swiftly  over 
the  waves,  and  turn  them  with  great  dexterity.  It  is  surprising  at  times  to  see  them 
o-oing  along  shore  ;  when  a  breaker  approaches  that  would  fill  the  canoe  over  its 
side,  they  instantly  turn  the  head,  which  from  its  being  elevated,  enables  them  to 
ride  over  in  safety,  and  as  quickly  return  to  their  course  :  they  are  considered  much 
safer  when  well  managed  than  timber  boats  of  the  same  size.  The  weight  of  the  latter 
would  preclude  their  general  use  along  the  coast;  as  where  there  are  not  any  sheltered 
harbours,  the  fishermen  on  landing  have  to  carry  their  canoes  above  the  reach  of  the 
waves.  When  the  sail-cloth  happens  to  be  torn,  it  is  most  expeditiously  repaired  ; 
a  sod  of  lighted  turf  is  held  near  the  rent  until  the  pitch  is  melted,  a  fresh  piece  is 
stuck  on  the  aperture,  and  the  canoe  is  immediately  launched ;  the  water  hardens 
the  cement,  and  without  further  ceremony  the  fishermen  jump  in  and  row  off." 

The  fair  authoress  gives  an  equally  interesting  account  of  her  visit  to  the  NA- 
TURAL BRIDGES  near  KILKEE.  "  After  a  residence  of  seven  weeks,  an  excursion 
was  planned  to  visit  the  unfrequented  village  and  bay  of  Ross,  near  Loof-Head, 
whose  natural  bridges  of  rock,  over  an  inlet  of  the  Atlantic,  are  considered  amongst 
the  greatest  curiosities  on  this  romantic  coast ;  and  finding  my  health  and  strength 
so  much  recruited,  that  instead  of  being  unable  to  go  a  mile  in  a  jaunting-car 
without  feeling  quite  exhausted,  I  undertook  a  ride  of  twenty-four  miles. 

"  Nothing  worthy  of  note  occurred,  with  the  exception  of  an  occasional  caution 
from  our  careful  driver,  of  '  Will  you  be  plazed  to  howld  fast,'  or  having  to  get 
occasionally  off  the  car  in  passing  over  sundry  hollows  in  the  road ;  otherwise  we 
might  have  found  ourselves  on  the  ground  without  the  trouble  of  alighting.  On 
stopping  to  inquire  the  shortest  path  to  the  '  Bridges,'  the  good-countenanced 
natives  flocked  around  us ;  but  as  they  could  not  speak  English,  we  were  at  a  loss 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  117 

for  direction,  until  a  little  lad,  who  understood  our  language,  came  up  and  offered 
to  act  as  guide.  After  passing  over  two  fields  we  reached  these  remarkable 
objects — both  picturesque,  yet  quite  different — extending  across  the  same  natural 
canal  or  inlet,  which  appears  as  if  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  varies  from  fifty 
to  sixty  feet  in  width,  and  in  its  course  it  makes  nearly  a  right-angle.  The 
inner  bridge  next  to  the  termination,  and  which  is  first  seen,  is  beautifully  arched, 
and  formed  of  numerous  thin  strata  of  rock,  like  sheets  lying  closely  over  each 
other.  The  under  side  of  the  arch  looks  as  smooth  as  if  covered  with  a  coat  of 
dark  plaster.  It  would  appear  that  at  some  period  the  whole  was  a  mass  of  rock, 
whose  strata  took  an  extraordinary  curved  or  arched  direction  inland,  which  is 
likewise  apparent  in  many  other  places  here  and  along  the  cliffs  to  Loop-Head,  and 
that  by  some  convulsion  of  nature  a  portion  of  the  under  strata  was  forced  out,  as 
the  broken  edges  can  be  seen  at  low  water,  appearing  like  a  sort  of  abutment  from 
which  the  perfect  arch  springs  :  lines  of  these  indented  edges  are  apparent  in  an 
undulating  course  along  the  side  of  the  canal  nearly  to  its  mouth,  and  appearing 
as  if  chiselled  out  by  the  hand  of  art. 

"  This  bridge,  together  with  that  now  about  to  be  described,  '  are  formed  of 
coarse  arenacious  clay-slate,  with  crystals  of  quartz  in  the  fissures.' 

"  The  latter  bridge  is  a  remarkable  structure,  being  nearly  as  level  on  the  upper 
as  the  under  surface.  When  we  consider  the  span,  which  is  forty-five  feet,  the  thick- 
ness above  the  arch,  nine  feet,  and  the  width,  thirty  feet,  and  reflect  how  impos- 
sible it  would  be  for  man,  with  all  his  boasted  powers,  to  construct,  or  for  a  moment 
to  support  so  great  a  mass,  without  a  curve  underneath,  the  mind  can  only  con- 
template this  extraordinary  structure  as  formed  by  the  creative  touch  of  nature's 
Divine  Architect.  From  its  exposed  situation,  close  to  the  ocean,  it  has  for  ages 
withstood  the  force  of  the  overwhelming  billows  during  the  westerly  tempests. 
Nearly  under  this  bridge  are  low  caverns  or  openings  between  the  rocks,  as  if  caused 
by  the  coast  having  been  shaken  and  rent  into  great  fissures,  into  which  the  guide 
(who  afterwards  joined  us)  threw  large  stones,  that  were  heard  bounding  and 
echoing  to  a  great  depth.  Many  of  the  fissures  in  some  places  are  lined  with 
minute  crystals,  which  sparkle  beautifully  in  the  sun's  rays.  One  of  our  party 
picked  up  a  remarkably  fine  specimen.  The  guide  attempted  to  disengage  some 
good  pieces,  but  failed  for  want  of  proper  tools.  The  canal,  or  wild  rocky  valley, 
when  the  tide  is  out,  is  above  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  and  when  the  visitor 
walks  along  the  bottom  of  it  he  can  only  see  naked  rocks,  the  sky,  and  the  breakers 
foaming  in  at  the  end.  The  bay  is  lined  by  a  high  bank  of  '  boulders,'  or  large 
rounded  stones,  which  from  their  bulk  appear  to  have  been  accumulating  for  cen- 
turies ;  they  are  similar  to  those  of  Forankeee  Bay,  near  Kilkee,  but  in  much  greater 
quantity.  The  ruins  of  an  ancient  little  chapel  and  those  of  a  dwelling-house,  for 

VOL.  i.  B  H 


Jig  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

many  years  the  residence  of  the  Keane  family,  in  whose  possession  the  oroperty 
still  remains,  are  to  be  seen  near  the  village. 

"  Although  the  weather  was  oppressively  warm  on  the  road,  yet  the  sharp  breeze 
from  the  Atlantic  rendered  our  cloaks  very  acceptable.  Whilst  the  remainder  of  the 
company  amused  themselves  in  taking  sketches  of  the  bridges,  or  wandering  amongst 
the  rocks  in  search  of  crystals,  I  was  glad  to  take  shelter  in  a  fisherman's  hut.  The 
poor  woman  received  me  with  a  courtesy  of  manner,  which  cultivation  may  improve 
but  nature  alone  can  impart.     The  interior  of  this  dwelling  soon  presented  the 
most  complete  picture  of  an  Irish  cabin  I  had  ever  seen.     Seated  on  the  only 
chair  in  the  house,  in  a  short  time  I  found  myself  surrounded  by  all  the  women 
and  children  belonging  to  the  few  contiguous  huts,  most  of  whom  seated  themselves 
on  the  floor.     A  numerous  family  of  domestic  animals,  consisting  of  cocks,  hens, 
cat?,  and  a  dog,  quite  at  their  ease,  were  interspersed  amongst  us ;  but  at  my  par- 
ticular request  a  large  pi;/  was  not  allowed  to  join  the  company,  although  extremely 
anxious  for  admission.     From  the  fisherman's  wife,  whose  propriety  of  manner  as 
\\  ell  as  that  of  her  neighbour's  quite  struck  me,  I  learned  many  interesting  parti- 
culars respecting  the  localities   of  the  place,  she  being  the  only  one  present  who 
could  speak   English,  and  acted  as  my  interpreter.      It  appears  they  have  a  very 
»ood  landlord,  and  that  the  tenants  were  tolerably  well  off':  the  poorest  hut  was 
not  without  a  featherbed,  and  many  of  them  had  two,  which  bespeaks  a  degree  of 
comfort  seldom  to  be  met  with  in  an  Irish  cabin.     In  this  one  I  observed  a  new 
style  of  '  waggon-roof  bedstead,  with  timber  curtains  (if  I  may  use  the  expression)  : 
the  back,  roof,  and  foot  were  covered  with  nice  white  deal-boards  nailed  on,  as  well 
as  the  side  next  the  wall :  the  tout  ensemble,  however,  looked  most  comfortable. 
She  likewise  informed  me  that  her  husband  was  a  pilot,  and  then  out  in  the  bay  ; 
that  they  paid  two  pounds  per  acre,  with  liberty  to  cut  as  much  turf  as  they  chose. 
That  they  availed  themselves  of  this  privilege  was  pretty  evident,  from  the  fine  fire 
that  blazed  on  the  hearth.      Here  also  the  women  toil  in  the  field,  and  draw  sea- 
weed for  manure  on  their  backs.    A  remark  made  in  Irish  by  a  sweet  little  boy,  and 
interpreted  by  his  mother,  amused  me.      His  sister  was  giving  him  a  drink  of  water 
rather  awkwardly  out  of  a  large  wooden  noggin,  and  looking  innocently  up  in  her 
face,  he  said,  '  Don't  spill  it,  agra,  (my  dear,)  for  'tis  very  good.'     How  easily  are 
the  wants  of  nature  satisfied  !      Finding  that  the  women  did  not  know  how  to 
make  fishing-nets  for  their  husbands,  and  for  which  they  had  to  pay,  and  being 
furnished  by  them  with  a  rude  netting-needle  and  twine,  I  set  to  work  to  instruct 
them,  at  which  they  seemed  much  gratified.      After  pleasantly  spending  more  than 
an  hour  with  this  interesting  group,  when  about  to  take  my  leave,  my  new  acquaint- 
ance asked  if,  when  I  got  home,  I  should  ever  think  of  the  people  of  Ross.     I 
replied,  there  were  too  many  agreeable  circumstances  connected  with  my  visit  to 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  119 

allow  me  soon  to  forget  them.  Being  joined  by  my  party,  attended  by  a  numerous 
escort,  we  reached  our  vehicle,  and  with  mutual  expressions  of  kind  feelings,  we 
bade  each  other  farewell." 

One  of  the  CAVES  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  is  thus  described.  "  The  sea  has  now 
become  smooth  by  the  wind  blowing  off  shore  for  two  or  three  days,  and  the  weather 
is  settled ;  and  being  kindly  accommodated  with  a  ship's  small  boat,  which  was 
picked  up  at  sea  by  some  fishermen,  we  this  evening  set  out  to  visit  a  cavern  about 
two  miles  from  Kilkee.  After  rowing  out  of  the  bay,  and  finding  ourselves  on  the 
mighty  Atlantic,  I  may  acknowledge  we  felt  more  at  ease  in  a  boat  with  a  keel  and 
rudder  than  we  had  done  in  a  canoe,  although  the  motion  was  much  slower  from 
the  boat  being  heavier.  We  were  accompanied  by  another  party  in  a  canoe,  who 
soon  got  ahead  of  us.  Having  cleared  the  rocks  of  Duganna,  the  great  expanse 
of  water  presented  a  magnificent  appearance  ;  the  nearest  point  on  the  opposite 
shore  was  that  of  Newfoundland,  two  thousand  miles  distant.  In  passing  along  the 
dark  cliffs,  the  Amphitheatre,  the  Puffing  Cavern,  the  Flat  or  Diamond  Rocks,  in 
succession,  arrested  our  attention  and  excited  admiration.  As  we  glided  over  the 
glassy  surface  of  the  water  in  Look-out  Bay,  we  did  not  anticipate  that  it  would  so 
soon  be  the  scene  of  a  dreadful  shipwreck,  where  a  large  number  of  our  fellow- 
creatures  who  were  on  board  the  '  Intrinsic,'  were  instantaneously  hurried  into  an 
awful  eternity  when  she  went  to  pieces. 

"  Having  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  we  lay  to,  in  order  to  take  soundings, 
and  to  examine  the  majestic  perpendicular  cliffs,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high, 
by  which  we  were  surrounded,  throwing  their  dark  shade  on  the  water,  which  gave 
it  the  appearance  of  a  sea  of  ink.  The  water  here  was  thirty-three  feet  deep.  We 
were  gently  wafted  into  this  magnificent  cavern,  of  which  I  can  only  give  a  faint 
sketch  ;  but  to  enable  the  reader  to  form  some  idea  of  its  size,  I  shall  give  the  best 
computation  we  were  able  to  make.  The  height  of  the  rude  arch  at  the  entrance, 
by  comparison  with  the  cliff  above,  appeared  to  be  about  sixty  feet,  and  lowered  as  it 
receded  to  thirty  or  forty;  the  breadth  at  the  bottom  was  the  same  ;  there  were  great 
blocks  and  angles  of  rock  projecting  on  either  side ;  within  the  entrance  to 
the  left  were  a  number  of  stalagmites,  formed  by  the  dropping  from  above,  and 
standing  on  a  sloping  rock,  like  small  brownish  sugarloaves.  The  roof  presented  a 
beautiful  variety  of  rich  metallic  tinges,  from  the  copper,  iron,  and  other  mineral 
substances  held  in  solution  by  the  water,  which  kept  continually  dropping  from  the 
top,  and  gave  increased  effect  to  the  light  thrown  in  at  the  entrance,  which  formed 
a  striking  contrast  with  the  darkness  at  the  upper  end  :  on  the  right  a  number  of 
stalactites  lined  the  side,  having  the  appearance  of  a  drapery  of  seaweeds,  and 
produced  a  handsome  effect.  The  echo  here  is  astonishing.  After  proceeding  inward 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  the  light  becomes  very  dim,  and  the  cavern 


120  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

narrower,  making  an  angle  to  the  left.  A  jutting  rock  at  the  entrance  of  this 
angle  shuts  out  the  little  light,  on  which  account  the  inner  chamber  is  rendered 
nearly  dark.  Proceeding  on  slowly,  and  having  a  boat  not  liable  to  be  injured  by 
touching  a  rock,  we  allowed  it  to  float  in  by  the  effect  of  the  swell,  until  the  awful 
and  profound  silence  was  broken  by  the  noise  of  the  boat  touching  the  rock  at  the 
extreme  end,  which  broke  upon  the  ear  with  an  indescribably  deep  and  impressive 
sound,  as  it  reverberated  from  the  roof  and  sides.  Whilst  in  the  dark  part  we 
perceived,  what  was  also  noticed  by  another  party,  that  the  dipping  of  the  oars  and 
the  dropping  from  the  roof  produced  a  sparkling  appearance  under  the  water — 
caused,  no  doubt,  by  the  air-bubbles  reflecting  the  little  light,  which  we  could 
scarcely  perceive.  On  leaving  this  gloomy  place  and  emerging  into  day,  the  sun- 
beams were  shining  outside  the  entrance  of  the  cave,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  distant,  and  hence  reflected  on  the  dark  rippling  water  within;  and  again, 
being  thrown  upon  the  rougharched  roof,  rendered  still  more  brilliant  by  its  beau- 
tiful metallic  tints,  broke  like  a  scene  of  fancied  enchantment  upon  the  delighted 
vision.  We  were  followed  into  the  cave  by  two  men  in  a  canoe,  who  brought  some 
very  fine  fish  just  caught;  and  this  curious  coincidence  probably  occasioned  the 
first  market  that  ever  was  held  in  this  magnificent  cavern." 

All  this  is  very  similar  to  the  scenery  of  a  watering-place  near  Boston  in  the 
United  States,  called  Nahout,  where  there  is  a  much-visited  spot  called  a  spouting- 
horn,  which,  with  a  change  of  name,  is  very  well  described  in  Mrs.  Knott's  account 
of  the  Puffing  Rock  near  Kilkee.  It  is  about  fifty  feet  high  and  thirty  feet  square, 
and  has  an  opening  down  through  the  middle  to  a  large  chamber  beneath;  and 
when  the  breakers  are  driven  in  by  strong  wind  and  tide,  after  filling  the  lower 
space,  the  water  is  spouted  up  through  the  aperture  like  graceful  feathery  plumes, 
and  descending  in  mist,  produces,  when  the  sun  shines  brightly,  a  most  vivid  and 
beautiful  iris,  whose  arch  may  be  seen  by  standing  with  your  back  to  the  sun. 
The  whole  of  the  coast  near  the  mouth  of  the  Shannon  is  rather  extraordinary,  and 
by  crossing  the  river,  we  come  to  the  CAVES  OF  BALLYBUNIAN  on  the  Kerry  side, 
"  This  bay,"  says  a  traveller  who  visited  them  in  1833,  "  is  about  five  hundred 
paces  in  width,  and  its  sands,  which  are  piled  up  the  sides  of  its  inner  portion,  are 
dry  and  firm,  though  the  prevalence  of  westerly  winds  and  the  strength  of  its  cur- 
rents mar  the  pleasantness  and  security  of  the  bathing.  The  cliffs,  which  front  the 
northern  side,  extend  about  two  hundred  and  ninety  yards,  and  rise  gradually  from 
the  east  to  the  west,  or  towards  the  sea,  where  they  attain  a  height  of  one  hundred 
and  ten  feet.  They  preserve  throughout  great  perpendicularity,  and  are  composed 
of  two  great  beds,  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  in  thickness,  of  compact  ampelite, 
divided  by  a  seam  of  the  same  slate,  but  fissile  and  anthracitous,  and  pouring  out 
streamlets  of  water  which  contain  iron  and  salts  in  solution,  and  tinge  the  rocks 


at  • 


the  rock  «t  the 


we  couli 


ihery  gl 


vinianlu'.ary,  and 
K.on  the  Kcrcv  *«)f:. 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  121 

with  bright  yellow  ochreous  colours.  These  cliffs  are  also  penetrated  by  several 
caves  of  small  dimensions,  which  open  upon  the  bay,  and  are  crossed  in  one  place 
by  a  fissure,  occasioned  by  the  fracturing  of  a  rock  which  dips  at  a  small  angle  of 
inclination  (four  to  five  degrees)  to  the  east.  The  last  cave  on  the  sea-side,  which 
has  also  an  entrance  from  the  bay,  immediately  curves  round,  and  allows  the  sea  to 
be  seen,  breasting  its  foaming  way  with  much  impetuosity,  even  on  calm  days,  up 
two  distinct  apertures,  through  which  the  light  gleams  with  almost  starlight  bright- 
ness. 

"  Any  attempt  to  describe  the  connexion  and  relation  of  all  these  minor  caves 
would  be  obviously  a  tedious  enumeration,  not  warranted  by  the  importance  of  the 
subject.  They  are  most  easily  navigated  in  a  boat  from  the  northern  side,  where  the 
rocky  passages  may  be  traversed  for  a  considerable  distance,  without  any  communi- 
cation with  the  open  sea :  and  during  this  navigation,  which  is  chiefly  carried  on  in 
a  line  parallel  to  the  western  face  of  the  cliff,  the  various  entrances  are  often  crossed 
at  right-angles,  affording  the  most  striking  contrast  of  light  and  shade — the  colour 
of  the  waters  being  often  of  a  hue  so  sparklingly  bright,  and  so  extensively  vivid,  as 
to  resemble  molten  silver;  while  the  boat,  hurrying  through  the  deep  and  wave- 
worn  arcades  into  light  and  airy  arched  or  vaulted  chambers,  only  in  their  inner- 
most recesses  dark  and  repulsive,  and  passing  from  cave  to  cave,  and  hall  to  hall, 
with  inlets  pointing  to  the  sea,  or  high  cliffs  affording  their  protection  against  the 
waves,  and  occasionally  well-like  apertures,  which  open  through  the  roof  to  yield 
a  telescopic  view  of  the  heavens,  assist,  more  especially  with  the  sudden  transi- 
tions from  absolute  darkness  to  the  most  brilliant  light,  in  giving  to  the  whole  an 
appearance  of  fairy  scenery." 

W.  Ainsworth  having  entered  from  the  Kerry  shore,  does  not  allude  to  the 
entrance. from  the  Clare  side;  and  as  I  know  that  much  disappointment  occurred 
to  a  party  from  Kilkee,  who  went  by  the  way  of  Carrigaholt,  and  attempting  to 
get  back  the  same  way,  were  carried  by  the  tide  up  to  Kilrush,  and  did  not  reach 
home  until  next  morning,  I  am  enabled  to  give  the  following  hints,  as  they  were 
communicated  to  a  friend  of  mine  by  James  Patterson  of  Kilrush,  from  whose 
well-known  nautical  knowledge  and  experience  the  information  may  be  useful  to 
other  visitors,  and  prevent  danger  and  disappointment.  This  gentleman,  it  appears, 
was  one  of  the  first  who  explored  the  dark  and  extensive  recesses  of  the  great 
caves,  into  which  he  took  with  him  blue-lights  and  torches.  He  says  that  it 
requires  the  wind  to  blow  for  two  days  off  the  land,  say  easterly  or  south-east,  in 
order  that  the  sea  may  be  sufficiently  calm  ;  should  it  be  at  all  from  the  west,  the 
water  is  so  rough  that  a  boat  could  not  enter.  When  the  weather  is  favourable,  he 
advises  to  take  a  boat  at  Kilrush,  and  go  down  with  the  first  ebb  of  the  tide,  which 
may  not  be  half  out  when  the  caves  are  reached,  at  ten  miles'  distance ;  three 

VOL.  i.  r  J 


122  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

or  four  hours  can  then  be  spent  in  examining  them ;  and  on  the  boat  coming  out, 
the  flowing  tide  rushing  in  brings  them  back  to  Kilrush  with  ease.  Parties 
should  also  get  the  opinion  of  some  person  well  acquainted  with  the  place  as  to 
providing  suitable  boats ;  for  large  ones  can  get  into  but  few  of  the  caves,  the 
entrances  being  low  and  narrow,  and  very  small  boats  are  unsafe  to  cross  the  river. 

The  cliffs  of  Ballybunian  contain  a  great  quantity  of  alum,  iron  pyrites,  &c., 
which  have  occasionally  taken  fire  from  being  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  atmo- 
sphere, and  which  fire  was  formerly  supposed  to  be  of  volcanic  origin.  I  shall 
insert  a  short  account  of  this  phenomenon  from  a  tourist  who  visited  them  forty 
years  since  ;  his  description  is  well  worth  the  perusal  of  every  lover  of  science. 

"  Some  years  back  a  part  of  these  cliffs,  between  the  castles  of  Sick  and  Dune, 
assumed  a  volcanic  appearance.  The  waves,  by  continual  dashing,  had  worn  and 
undermined  the  cliff,  which  giving  way,  fell  with  tremendous  violence  into  the  sea  ; 
several  great  strata  or  beds  of  pyrites,  iron,  and  sulphur  were  in  consequence 
exposed  to  the  action  of  the  air  and  salt-water,  the  natural  effects  of  which  were 
that  they  heated  and  burned  with  great  fierceness.  The  clay  near  it  is  calcined  to 
a  red  brick,  mixed  with  iron  ore,  melted  in  many  places  like  cinders  thrown  from  a 
smith's  forge.  Many  who  did  not  consider  well  the  causes,  and  the  effects  natu- 
rally to  be  expected  from  them,  have  supposed  this  to  be  volcanic." 

To  the  kindness  of  Captain  Sabine  I  am  indebted  for  an  account  of  the  birds  which 
he  met  with  on  these  coasts.  "  Of  sea-birds,  I  recognised  in  flight,  of  terns,  the 
hiruitdo  and  minuta ;  of  gulls,  the  aryentatus,  fmcm,  and  tridactylus,  and  I  heard 
of  a  gull  with  very  red  legs,  which  was,  I  suppose,  the  ridibundus;  of  the  guillemots, 
the  iroile,  bninnichii,  (jrylle,  and  alba;  cormorants  and  oyster-catchers  abundant;  the 
oyster-catchers  more  frequently  in  groups  than  in  pairs,  although  it  was  the  breed- 
ing season ;  puffins  and  razorbills.  Of  land-birds,  the  only  species  worth  parti- 
cular remark  is  the  chough,  which  breeds  in  the  rocks  at  Ballybunian,  as  does  the 
rock-pigeon." 

"  Before  leaving  Loop-head,  the  visitor  is  recommended  to  walk  about  a  mile 
along  the  cliffs  towards  Ross,  where  their  fancifully-curved  strata  present  extraordi- 
nary appearances.  In  the  face  of  the  rock,  one  of  the  bays  is  the  resort  of  thousands 
of  sea-gulls,  whose  young  in  the  autumn,  ranged  on  narrow  shelves  of  rock  that 
line  the  bay,  loudly  scream  for  food,  which  the  parent  birds  seem  to  answer  as  they 
skim  along  the  surface  of  the  water,  looking  down  for  their  prey ;  altogether  the 
noise  was  so  great,  that  a  party  who  lately  visited  it  rushed  forward  in  amazement 
to  see  what  could  have  produced  such  extraordinary  clamour.  Near  this  is  a 
conical  hill,  called  Cahir  Croghaune,  situated  a  short  distance  from  the  road,  and 
well  worth  ascending :  the  view  all  round  will  amply  repay  for  the  trouble. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1834,  one  of  the  cliffs  which  had  been  undermined  by  the  waves, 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  123 

fell  into  the  sea  with  so  loud  a  noise  that  the  manager  at  the  lighthouse  thought  it 
was  thunder.  When  a  party  recently  visited  this  place  they  found  it  dangerous  to 
approach,  as  many  of  the  fragments  appeared  ready  to  follow  the  fallen  masses." 

From  the  complete  absence  of  ooze,  and  the  exclusive  sand  and  rock  which  form 
the  western  coast  of  Ireland,  the  sea-water  at  Kilkee  is  remarkably  pellucid  and 
bright ;  and  the  persons  engaged  in  recovering  the  sunken  cargo  of  the  Intrinsic 
worked  to  great  advantage,  from  being  able  to  see  objects  distinctly  at  fifty  feet 
below  the  surface.  A  very  uncommon  variety  of  curious  sea-weed  is  also  found 
here,  particularly  the  Carrigheen  moss,  used  by  invalids,  and  said  to  be  as  nutritious 
as  isinglass. 

The  antiquarian  finds  matter  of  interest  at  Kilkee,  in  the  shape  of  two  of  the 
ancient  Raths,  one  on  each  side  of  the  village.  That  on  the  east  seems  of  great 
antiquity.  The  circumference  outside  the  rampart  is  two  hundred  and  fifty-six 
yards,  the  top  of  the  mound  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  ;  the  height  of  the  top  of 
the  Rath,  above  the  fosse,  which  has  been  filled  considerably,  is  twenty  feet ;  the 
height  of  the  centre  rampart  ten  feet,  and  twelve  above  the  fosse.  At  the  south 
side  of  the  top  of  the  mound  is  a  passage  covered  with  large  flags,  and  leading  into 
the  interior.  An  inhabitant  of  Kilkee,  who  some  years  ago  penetrated  to  the  interior, 
found  a  chamber  of  twelve  feet  diameter,  walled  at  the  sides,  and  covered  with 
broad  thick  flags.  Within  his  memory,  this  person  said,  this  and  other  raths 
had  been  the  abodes  of  fairies.  About  thirty  years  ago,  no  gentleman  in  the  south 
of  Ireland  could  induce  his  men  to  open  a  rath,  unless  he  would  first  take  off'  the 
sod  himself,  and  then  he  was  obliged  to  ply  some  courageous  fellows  with  whiskey 
in  order  to  raise  their  spirits  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  object.  A  friend  of 
mine  informed  me,  that  near  Limerick,  where  he  was  educated,  it  was  commonly 
believed  that  whoever  disturbed  a  rath  would  die  before  the  expiration  of  the  year, 
and  that  his  grandfather  having  ploughed  one  up  in  defiance  of  the  superstition, 
and  having  chanced  to  die  within  the  twelvemonth,  had  secured  undisturbed  repose 
to  all  the  raths  in  the  neighbourhood.  Mr.  Crofton  Croker  has  written  a  very 
satisfactory  chapter  on  fairies,  expressed  with  his  usual  elegance,  and  a  few  extracts 
from  it  will  be  apropos  to  the  superstitions  of  the  raths.  "  In  common  with  other 
countries,"  he  says,  "  particularly  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  a  traditional  belief 
exists  among  the  Irish  peasantry  in  those  romantic  little  sprites  denominated  fairies ; 
and  it  is  wonderful,  considering  their  being  creatures  of  imagination,  that  the  super- 
stitions respecting  them  should  have  remained  so  much  confined,  and  so  very 
similar.  Whether  the  fairy  mythology  of  Ireland  has  been  derived  from  the  East, 
and  transmitted  hence  through  the  medium  of  Spain,  or  has,  as  some  believe,  a 
northern  origin,  it  is  of  little  import  to  inquire,  particularly  as  nothing  more  than 
conjecture  can  now  be  advanced  on  the  subject.  It  is,  however,  evident  that  the 


124  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

present  fairies  of  Ireland,  if  not  Gothic  creations,  were  at  least  modelled  in  the 
same  school  and  age  with  the  elves  of  northern  Europe. 

"  There  is  an  odd  mixture  of  the  ridiculous  and  the  sublime  in  the  prevalent 
notions  respecting  such  beings.  Nor  could  there  have  been  invented  a  more  extra- 
ordinary medium  between  man  and  his  Maker.  The  most  esteemed  novelist  of  the 
present  clay  has  happily  described  these  curious  creations  of  the  mind,  as 

"  That  which  is  neither  ill  nor  well ; 

That  which  belongs  not  to  heaven  or  hell ; 
A  wreath  of  the  mist,  a  bubble  of  the  stream, 
'Twixt  a  waking  thought  and  a  sleeping  dream  ; 
A  form  that  men  spy 
With  the  half-shut  eye, 
In  the  beams  of  the  setting  sun  am  I ! " 

Partaking  both  of  the  human  and  spiritual  nature,  having  immaterial  bodies,  with 
tlic  feelings  and  passions  of  mortality,  fairies  are  supposed  to  possess  both  the 
|io\ver  and  inclination  to  revenge  an  affront:  and  the  motive  of  fear,  which  induces 
some  savage  nations  to  worship  the  devil,  prompts  the  vulgar  in  Ireland  to  term 
fairies  '  good  people,'  and  in  Scotland  '  guid  folk  ;'  nor  is  it  uncommon  to  see  a 
rustic  before  drinking,  spill  a  small  part  of  his  draught  upon  the  ground,  as  a  com- 
plimentary libation  to  the  fairies.  Such  as  use  the  word  fairy  are  often  corrected 
in  a  whisper,  which  caution  arises  from  conceiving  that  these  beings  are  invisibly 
present,  and  the  appellation  is  considered  offensive,  as  denoting  an  insignificant 
object.  Thus,  hoping  to  deceive  by  flattery,  the  maxim  most  attended  to  in  the 
intercourse  with  these  '  little  great  ones'  is,  that  '  civility  begets  civility.'  Doubt- 
less on  the  same  principle  the  Greeks,  as  observed  by  Augustus  Schlegel,  called 
their  fairies  Eumenides,  or  the  benevolent,  and  assigned  for  their  habitation  a  beau- 
tiful grove.  '  1  cannot  think  of  this  policy,'  said  my  friend  C ,  'without 

fancying  a  grin  on  Medusa,  and  those  little  urchins,  the  northern  fairies,  holding 
their  sides  with  laughter.'  The  same  system  of  fear  and  flattery  seems  to  have 
existed  amongst  the  Irish  even  towards  animals  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth ;  for  Camden 
tells  us,  '  they  take  unto  them  wolves  to  be  their  godsibs,  (gossips,)  whom  they 
tearme  Chart,  Clirint,  praying  for  them,  and  wishing  them  well,  and  so  they  are 
not  afraid  to  be  hurt  by  them.' 

"  The  circular  intrenchments  and  barrows,  known  by  the  name  of  Danish  forts, 
in  Ireland,  are  pointed  out  as  the  abode  of  fairy  communities,  and  to  disturb  their 
habitation,  in  other  words  to  dig  or  plough  up  a  rath  or  fort,  whose  construction 
the  superstitious  natives  ascribe  to  the  labour  and  ingenuity  of  the  '  good  people,' 
is  considered  as  unlucky,  and  entailing  some  severe  disaster  on  the  violator  of  his 
kindred.  An  industrious  peasant,  who  purchased  a  farm  in  the  neighbourhood  of 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  125 

Mallow  from  a  near  relative  of  mine,  commenced  his  improvements  by  building 
upon  it  a  good  stone  house,  together  with  a  lime-kiln.  Soon  after  he  waited  on  the 
proprietor,  to  state  '  the  trouble  he  was  come  to  by  reason  of  the  old  fort,  the  fairies 
not  approving  of  his  having  placed  the  lime-kiln  so  near  their  dwelling.  He  had 
lost  his  sow  with  nine  bonniveens,  (sucking-pigs,)  his  horse  fell  into  a  quarry  and 
was  killed,  and  three  of  his  sheep  died,  all  through  the  means  of  the  fairies ! ' 
Though  the  lime-kiln  had  cost  him  five  guineas,  he  declared  he  would  never  burn 
another  stone  in  it,  but  take  it  down  without  delay,  and  build  one  away  from  the 
fort;  saying,  he  was  wrong  in  putting  that  kiln  in  the  way  of  the  '  good  people,' 
who  were  thus  obliged  to  go  out  of  their  usual  track.  The  back-door  of  his  house 
unfortunately  also  faced  the  same  fort,  but  this  offence  was  obviated  by  almost 
closing  it  up,  leaving  only  a  small  hole  at  the  top  to  allow  the  good  people  free 
passage  should  they  require  it.  In  these  raths,  fairies  are  represented  as  holding 
their  festive  meetings,  and  entering  into  all  the  fantastic  and  wanton  mirth  that 
music  and  glittering  banquets  are  capable  of  inspiring.  A  fairy  chieftain  of  much 
local  celebrity,  named  Knop,  is  supposed  to  hold  his  court  in  a  rath  on  the  road- 
side between  Cork  and  Youghal,  where  often  travellers,  unacquainted  with  the 
country,  have  been  led  astray  by  the  appearance  of  lights,  and  by  alluring  sounds 
proceeding  from  within ;  but  when 

"  The  village  cock  gave  note  of  Jay, 

Up  sprang  in  haste  the  airy  throng ; 
The  word  went  round,  :  Away  !  away  ! 

The  night  is  short,  the  way  is  longh- 
and the  delicious  viands  change  into  carrion.      The  crystal  goblets  become  rugged 
pebbles,  and  the  whole  furniture  of  the  feast  undergoes  a  similar  metamorphosis. 

"  An  eddy  of  dust  raised  by  the  wind  is  attributed  to  the  fairies  journeying 
from  one  of  their  haunts  to  another ;  on  perceiving  which  the  peasant  will  obse- 
quiously doff  his  hat,  muttering  '  God  speed  ye,  God  speed  ye,  gentlemen ; '  and 
returns  it  to  his  head,  with  the  remark,  '  Good  manners  are  no  burthen,'  as  an 
apology  for  the  motive,  which  he  is  ashamed  to  acknowledge.  Should  he,  however, 
instead  of  such  friendly  greeting,  repeat  any  short  prayer,  or  devoutly  cross  himself, 
using  a  religious  response,  the  fairy  journey  is  interrupted  ;  and  if  any  mortals  are 
in  their  train,  the  charm  by  which  they  were  detained  is  broken,  and  they  are 
restored  to  human  society.  On  these  occasions  the  production  of  a  black-hafted 
knife  is  considered  as  extremely  potent  in  dissolving  the  spell.  This  weapon  is 
believed  to  be  effective,  not  only  against  fairy  incantation,  but  also  against  any 
supernatural  being ;  and  accounts  of  many  twilight  rencontres  between  shadowy 
forms  and  mortals  are  related,  to  establish  its  power,  gouts  of  blood  or  jelly  being 

VOL.  I.  K  K 


126  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

found  in  the  morning  on  the  spot  where  the  vision  had  appeared.  A  respectable 
farmer  has  been  pointed  out  to  me  whose  familiar  appellation  in  Irish  was,  '  Kill 
the  devil,'  from  the  report  of  his  having  quelled,  by  means  of  a  biack-hafted  knife, 
a  phantom  that  long  had  haunted  him. 

"  A  stanza,  containing  the  track  of  a  fairy  procession,  is  preserved  by  Dr. 
Neilson  in  his  Irish  Grammar ;  and  as  a  curiosity  the  translation  may  be  worth 
copying. 

"  Paying  a  fleeting  visit  to  many  an  '  airy  castle,  rath,  and  mount,'  Finsar  and 
his  troop  hold  their  course  from  dawn  of  noon  till  fall  of  night,  on  beautiful  winged 
coursers. 

'  Around  Knock  Grein  and  Nock  na  Rae, 
Bin  Builvin  and  Reis  Corain, 
To  Bin  Eachlan  and  loch  Da-ean, 
From  thence  north-east  to  Sleive  Guilin — 
They  traversed  the  lofty  hills  of  Mourne, 
Round  high  Sleive  Denard  and  Balachanery, 
Down  to  Dundrin,  Dundrum,  and  Dunardalay 
Right  forward  to  Knock  na  Feadaled ;' 

tlic  latter  name  signifying  in  English  the  Musical  Hill,  so  called  from  the  superna- 
tural strains  supposed  occasionally  to  proceed  from  it. 

"  The  most  romantic  dells  are  also  pointed  out  as  scenes  of  fairy  resort,  and  dis- 
tinguished by  the  term  '  gentle  places.'  Beetling  linen  by  the  side  of  a  rocky 
stream  that  murmurs  through  an  unfrequented  glen,  is  represented  as  a  favourite,  or 
rather  common  female  fairy  occupation,  where  they  chant  wild  and  pathetic  melodies, 
beating  time  with  their  beetles.  The  herbs  and  plants  with  which  such  glens 
abound  are  considered  as  under  fairy  influence,  and  are  collected,  with  many  cere- 
monies, for  charms,  by  cunning  old  women,  termed  '  Fairy  Doctors,'  or  sometimes, 
from  their  professed  knowledge  of  surgery,  '  Bone-setters.'  A  confidence  in  super- 
stitious quackery  exists  so  strongly  amongst  the  lower  orders  in  Ireland,  that  many 
instances  are  known  to  me  where  patients  have  been  carried  a  distance  of  several 
miles  to  a  '  Bone-setter,'  to  whom  a  fee  was  given,  when  they  might  have  received 
without  removal,  and  free  of  expense,  every  attendance  from  the  most  skilful 
surgeons.  '  I  would  not,  if  all  the  doctors  in  Ireland  told  me  so,  treat  the  poor 
sufferer  thus,'  is  the  prefatory  sentence  used  by  these  '  wise  women.'  '  What  do 
doctors  know  about  sick  people  ?  but  take  the  herbs  which  I  shall  give  you,  bury 
them  at  sunset  in  the  north-east  corner  of  the  fort-field ;  and  when  you  return,  tie 
a  thread  three  times  round  the  left-hand  upper  post  of  the  sick  person's  bed,  and 
let  it  remain  there  for  nine  nights,'  &c.  Camden,  it  would  seem,  had  some  faith  in 
the  efficacy  of  these  '  skilful  women,'  who,  '  by  means  of  charms,'  to  use  his  own 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  127 

words,  '  give  more  certain  judgment  of  the  disease  than  many  of  our  physicians 
can.' 

"  Fairies  are  represented  as  exceedingly  diminutive  in  their  stature,  having  an  arch 
and  malicious  expression  of  countenance,  and  generally  habited  in  green,  with  large 
scarlet  caps ;  hence  the  beautiful  plant  Digitalis  purpurea,  is  named  '  fairy-cap' 
by  the  vulgar,  from  the  supposed  resemblance  of  its  bells  to  this  part  of  fairy 
dress.  To  the  same  plant  many  rustic  superstitions  are  attached,  particularly  its 
salutation  of  supernatural  beings,  by  bending  its  long  stalks  in  token  of  recog- 
nition. 

"  Old  and  solitary  thorns,  in  common  with  the  digitalis,  are  regarded  with 
reverence  by  the  peasantry,  and  considered  as  sacred  to  the  revels  of  these  eccentric 
little  sprites,  whose  vengeance  follows  their  removal.  Any  antique  implement 
casually  discovered  by  the  labourer  is  referred  to  the  fairies,  and  supposed  to  have 
been  dropped  or  forgotten  by  them :  small  and  oddly-shaped  tobacco-pipes, 
frequently  turned  up  by  the  spade  or  the  plough,  the  finder  instantly  destroys,  to 
avert  the  evil  agency  of  their  former  spiritual  owners.  Amongst  these  remains  mav 
be  noticed  the  flint  arrow-heads,  said  to  be  sportively  shot  at  cattle  by  the  fairies ; 
and  in  compliance  with  the  popular  superstition,  termed,  even  by  antiquarians, 
'  elf-arrows.' 

"  The  fairies  are  believed  to  visit  the  farm-houses  in  their  district  on  particular 
nights,  and  the  embers  are  collected,  the  hearth  swept,  and  a  vessel  of  water  placed 
for  their  use  before  the  family  retire  to  rest.  But  these  dubious  divinities  seem  to 
preside  more  especially  over  cattle,  corn,  fruits,  and  agricultural  objects.  Milking 
the  cows,  upsetting  the  dairy-pans,  and  disarranging  whatever  may  have  been 
carefully  placed  in  order,  are  amongst  their  mischievous  proceedings.  Cluricaune 
or  Leprehaune  is  the  name  given  to  the  Irish  Puck.  The  character  of  this  goblin 
is  a  compound  of  that  of  the  Scotch  Brownie  and  the  English  Robin  Goodfellow. 
He  is  depicted  (for  engraved  portraits  of  the  Irish  Leprehaune  are  in  existence)  as  a 
small  and  withered  old  man,  completely  equipped  in  the  costume  of  a  cobbler,  and 
employed  in  repairing  a  shoe.  A  paragraph  lately  appeared  in  a  Kilkenny  paper, 
stating,  that  a  labourer  returning  home  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  discovered  a 
Leprehaune  at  work,  from  whom  he  bore  away  the  shoe  which  he  was  mending  as 
a  proof  of  the  veracity  of  his  story ;  it  was  further  stated,  that  the  shoe  lay  for  the 
inspection  of  the  curious  at  the  newspaper-office.  The  most  prominent  feature 
in  the  vulgar  creed  respecting  the  Leprehaune  is,  his  being  the  possessor  of 
a  purse,  supposed  to  be,  like  that  of  Fortuuatus,  inexhaustible ;  and  many 
persons  who  have  surprised  one  of  these  fairies  occupied  in  shoe-making,  have 
endeavoured  to  compel  him  to  deliver  it :  this  he  has  ingeniously  avoided,  avert- 
ing the  eye  of  his  antagonist  by  some  stratagem,  when  he  disappears ;  which  it 


128  SCENERY    OF    IEELAND. 

seems  he  has   not  the  power  of  doing   as  long  as  any   person's  gaze  is  fixed 
upon  him. 

"  Fairy  children,  I  have  been  assured,  are  frequently  seen  in  lonely  glens, 
engaged  in  mimic  fights  and  juvenile  gambols.  A  story  related  by  Gervase  of 
Tilbury,  in  the  Otia  Imperialia,  and  mentioned  in  the  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish 
Border  as  current,  with  only  slight  variations,  both  in  the  highlands  and  lowlands  of 
Scotland,  is  equally  so  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  and  is  perhaps  the  most  common  of 
fairy  superstitions.  A  woman,  who  had  been  abstracted  to  nurse  a  young  fairy, 
during  her  residence  amongst  the  supernatural  community,  accidentally  anointed 
one  of  her  eyes  with  a  substance  entrusted  to  her  for  the  use  of  her  infant  charge. 
On  being  emancipated  from  captivity,  the  '  good  people'  still  remained  visible  to 
the  eye  which  had  been  touched  by  the  magic  ointment,  and  hence  she  daily  beheld 
them  engaged  (like  the  Sylphs  in  Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock)  in  their  various  fairy 
avocations.  The  woman,  however,  remained  a  silent  spectator,  until  happening  to 
recognize,  sporting  amongst  others,  the  fairy  child  whom  she  had  nursed,  in  all  the 
delicate  bloom  and  beauty  of  unearthly  youth,  her  prudence  forsook  her,  and  at 
the  sight  she  was  betrayed  by  her  feelings  into  an  exclamation  of  delight ;  on 
hearing  which  the  young  fairy  approached  his  nurse,  and  inquired  by  what  means 
she  was  conscious  of  his  presence.  She  pointed  to  the  anointed  eye,  into  which  he 
instantly  darted  a  spear  that  he  held  in  his  hand,  and  thus,  by  destroying  the  organ, 
shut  out  for  ever  the  secrets  of  the  invisible  world  from  the  mortal  eye  to  which 
they  had  been  revealed.  When  a  child  appears  delicate,  or  a  young  woman  con- 
sumptive, the  conclusion  is  that  they  are  carried  off  to  be  made  a  playmate  or 
nurse  to  the  young  fairies,  and  that  a  substitute,  resembling  the  person  taken  away, 
is  deposited  in  their  place,  which  gradually  declines  and  ultimately  dies.  The 
inhuman  means  used  by  ignorant  parents  to  discover  if  any  unhealthy  child  be 
their  offspring  or  a  changeling,  (the  name  given  to  the  illusory  image,)  is,  placing 
the  child  undressed  on  the  roadside,  where  it  is  suffered  to  lie  a  considerable  time 
exposed  to  cold.  After  such  ceremony,  they  conclude  a  natural  disorder  has  caused 
the  symptoms  of  decay ;  and  the  child  is  then  treated  with  more  tenderness,  from  an 
idea  that  had  it  been  possessed  by  a  fairy,  that  spirit  would  not  have  brooked  such 
indignity,  but  made  its  escape.  Paralytic  affections  are  attributed  to  the  same 
agency,  whence  the  term  '  fairy-struck ; '  and  the  same  cruel  treatment  is  observed 
towards  aged  persons  thus  afflicted. 

"  A  pleasing  ballad  by  my  friend  Mr.  Anster  has  been  founded  on  this  supersti- 
tion ;  the  mother  is  supposed  to  speak. 

'  The  summer  sun  was  sinking, 

With  a  mild  light,  calm  and  mellow, 
It  shone  on  my  little  boy's  bonny  cheeks, 
And  his  loose  locks  of  yellow. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  ]29 

'  The  robin  was  singing  sweetly, 

And  his  song  was  sad  and  tender ; 
And  my  little  boy's  eyes,  as  he  heard  the  song, 
Saiiled  with  a  sweet  soft  splendour. 

'  My  little  boy  lay  on  my  bosom, 

While  his  soul  the  song  was  quaffing  ; 
The  joy  of  his  soul  had  tinged  his  cheek, 
And  his  heart  and  his  eye  were  laughing. 

'  I  sat  alone  in  my  cottage, 

The  midnight  needle  plying; 
I  feared  for  my  child,  for  the  rush's  light 
In  the  socket  now  was  dying. 

'  There  came  a  hand  to  my  lonely  latch, 
Like  the  wind  at  midnight  moaning, 
I  knelt  to  pray — but  rose  again — 
For  I  heard  my  little  boy  groaning ! 

'  I  crossed  my  brow  and  I  crossed  my  breast, 

But  that  night  my  child  departed ! 
They  left  a  weakling  in  its  stead, 
And  I  am  broken-hearted. 

'  Oh !  it  cannot  be  my  own  sweet  boy, 

For  his  eyes  are  dim  and  hollow; 
My  little  boy  bus  gone  to  God, 
And  his  mother  soon  will  follow. 

'  The  dirge  for  the  dead  will  be  sung  for  me, 

And  the  mass  be  chanted  meetly  ; 
And  I  will  sleep  with  my  little  boy, 
In  the  moonlight  churchyard  sweetly.' 

"  Sometimes  an  intricate  legal  question  arises  in  the  case  of  a  young  woman  being 
carried  off  by  the  fairies,  and  returning  after  an  absence  of  several  years,  which  is 
by  no  means  uncommon,  when  she  finds  her  husband  married  to  a  second  wife. 
More  than  one  instance  of  this  unexpected  reappearance  has  come  within  my  own 
knowledge,  and  I  select  the  relation  contained  in  a  letter  which  I  received  during 
the  present  year,  from  its  being  the  most  recent  case.  '  The  day  before  I  left 
Island  Bawn/  says  the  writer,  '  I  heard  of  an  Irish  Kilmeny,  in  the  person  of  the 
wife  of  a  labouring  cottager,  who  having  died  about  twenty  years  since,  and  been 
buried  with  the  usual  ceremonies,  the  poor  man  allowed  a  reasonable  period  to 
elapse,  and  subsequently  took  unto  himself  another  helpmate,  with  whom  he  had 
since  continued  to  live  ;  when  one  night  last  winter,  (1820,)  they  were  disturbed  by 
a  woman  vociferously  claiming  admission  into  their  cabin,  and  asserting  her  right 

VOL.  1.  L  L 


130  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

to  the  full  and  undisturbed  sovereignty  of  the  same,  inasmuch  as  she  was  the 
owner's  true  and  lawful  wife,  whom  he  supposed  deceased  and  interred,  whereas 
she  had  only  been  with  the  fairies,  from  whose  power  she  had  now  emancipated 
herself.  So  minute  and  clear  (if  not  satisfactory)  did  she  make  out  her  title,  that 
both  the  husband  and  his  second  spouse  quailed  before  this  unwelcomed  visitant 
from  the  "  good  people."  The  first  wife  allowed  her  "  locum  tenens"  to  remain  in 
the  house  while  she  behaved  herself  respectfully ;  and  all  went  on  smoothly  for 
some  time,  the  stranger  supporting  the  truth  of  her  story  by  mysteriously  telling 
the  fortunes  of  those  who  flocked  to  see  so  wonderful  a  woman.  Being,'  con- 
tinues the  writer,  '  unable  to  pay  her  a  visit  myself,  I  requested  a  young  lady 
who  was  staying  at  my  sister's  to  do  so,  and  who  was  much  more  qualified  than  I 
should  have  been,  to  elicit,  if  possible,  the  truth.  With  her  usual  kindness  she 
undertook  the  task,  and  I  cannot  do  better  than  copy  her  letter  to  my  sister. 

"  '  My  dear  Mrs.  L ,  Ballyhogan.  6th  January,  1821. 

'  la  compliance  with  your  brother's  request,  I  have  sat  down  to  give  you  an 
account  of  my  visit  to  the  fairy  woman.  On  Thursday  morning  last,  having  pro- 
cured a  guide  to  show  me  the  way  to  her  house,  I  departed  on  my  mission,  and 
after  a  walk  of  about  four  miles,  arrived  at  the  little  village  of  Castle  Town,  on  the 
Shannon.  "  That  white  house  younder,  Miss,  is  the  one  the  fortune-teller  lives 
in,"  said  the  guide.  I  was  readily  admitted,  and  found  the  inside  thronged  with 
visitors,  to  whom  the  diviner  talked  in  the  common  gipsy  strain.  Being  more 
anxious  to  hear  her  own  story  than  anything  she  could  tell  me  of  myself,  I  asked 
her  if  the  report  respecting  her  having  recently  returned  from  the  fairies  was  cor- 
rect. Her  reply  was,  that  she  had  been  with  the  "  good  people"  many  years,  and 
as  a  reward  for  her  conduct  while  among  them,  they  had  bestowed  the  gift  of 
fortune-telling.  I  then  begged  her  to  inform  me  of  some  further  particulars  ;  and 
after  considerable  hesitation  on  her  part,  and  persuasion  on  mine,  she  gave  me  the 
following  history,  which  I  will  recount  verbatim,  as  highly  illustrative  of  fairy 
superstition  and  Irish  manners. 

'  My  father,  whose  name  was  Thady  Donohoe,  lived  in  a  little  place  they 
call  Mount  Shannon,  near  Slain ;  he  was  a  shoemaker,  and  supported  his  family 
by  his  work,  until  he  lost  his  health  through  grief  at  my  folly  in  not  being  led  by 
his  advice ;  and  I'm  sartin  share  (certain  sure,  confident)  I  suffered  all  I  did  for 
going  against  my  father.  He  k>red  me  Utter  (better)  than  any  of  his  childer  (chil- 
dren), because  he  had  no  deaghter  (daughter)  but  myself;  and  at  eighteen  he 
thought  to  get  me  married  to  a  neighbour's  son,  who  was  a  neat  boy  (a  handsome 
fellow)  ;  and,  indeed,  not  that  I  say  it,  I  was  a  neat,  clean-skinned  girl  at  that 
time,  though  I  may  deny  it  to-day ;  but  I  was  fond  of  a  young  man  who  was 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  131 

working  as  a  labouring  boy  at  a  farmer's  house  handy  ly  (adjacent).  Well,  when 
I  tould  (told)  Paddy  Doody,  for  that  was  my  lover's  name,  what  my  father  wished 
me  to  do,  he  said,  if  I  did  not  run  away  with  him,  my  father  and  my  brothers  would 
make  me  marry  the  other  boy,  and  he  should  kill  himself  or  go  distracted.  So 
I  went  off  with  him  shure  enough,  (without  hesitation,)  and  we  were  married  by  his 
parish  priest  as  soon  as  we  came  to  Castle  Town.  I  never  saw  my  father  till  he 
was  dying,  which  was  about  six  months  after :  he  gave  me  his  blessing  and  a  cow 
before  he  died.  After  the  funeral  I  came  back  to  my  husband,  and  we  lived  very 
happily  for  some  years.  My  eldest  little  boy  died,  and  I  was  nursing  my  second, 
when  one  night  about  Midsummer,  as  we  were  sitting  at  our  supper,  I  was  fairy- 
struck  and  fell  off  my  chair;  so  with  that  (instantly)  poor  Paddy  ran  out  for  one 
of  the  neighbours,  who  desired  him  to  send  for  the  priest,  which  he  did  to  le  shure 
(as  a  matter  of  course).  But  when  he  came  he  did  not  know  what  to  do,  but  said 
prayers  over  me,  and  anointed  me  for  death ;  and  when  the  holy  oil  was  put  on 
me  I  was  better,  and  continued  to  mend  for  several  days ;  but  I  was  still  very  weak 
and  low.  I  had  an  impression  about  (oppression  on)  the  heart,  and  a  dimness  in 
my  eyes,  and  a  ringing  in  my  ears,  and  my  face  was  greatly  altered.  Well,  one 
night  after  we  all  lay  down  to  sleep,  it  was  about  twelve  o'clock,  I  heard  a  great 
noise,  and  saw  a  light  in  the  room.  I  called  Paddy,  but  he  could  not  hear  me. 
My  little  child  was  about  three  months  old,  and  lay  asleep  by  my  side.  In  one 
minute  the  house  was  full  of  people,  men  and  women,  but  no  one  saw  them  but 
myself;  and  one  of  the  women  came  to  the  side  of  the  bed,  and  said,  "  Judy,  get 
up,  you  are  to  come  with  us,  and  I  will  put  one  in  your  place  to  nurse  your  child." 
So  with  that  they  dragged  me  out  of  bed,  and  put  an  old  woman  in  my  place,  who 
took  my  cratur  of  a  child  (creature,  a  term  of  endearment,)  in  her  arms.  I  thought 
I  should  die,  but  I  could  not  speak  a  word.  They  took  me  off  with  them,  and 
there  were  several  horsemen,  with  red  caps,  outside  the  door;  and  the  women  who 
sat  behind  them  on  the  horses  had  blue  cloaks.  There  was  a  piper  on  a  grey  pony 
that  led  the  way ;  and  when  I  got  to  their  dwelling  I  was  given  a  child  to  nurse. 
I  am  not  allowed  to  tell  anything  that  happened  while  I  was  there;  all  I  can  say  is, 
that  I  never  ate  one  mouthful  of  their  food,  if  I  did  I  never  could  have  left  them. 
I  came  every  night  to  my  own  house  for  cold  potatoes,  and  I  lived  on  them.  Paddy 
buried,  as  he  thought,  the  old  woman  that  was  put  in  my  place,  but  she  came  away 
to  us.  I  am  twenty  years  from  home,  and  my  husband  is  married  again  :  this  is 
my  son's  house.  When  I  came  home  Paddy  would  not  own  me,  but  I  soon  made 
him  sensible  (convinced  him)  I  was  his  wife.  I  have  suffered  more  than  I  can 
tell  any  one  while  I  was  with  the  "  good  people  ;"  and  I  promised  the  Blessed 
Virgin  if  she  would  release  me  to  do  six  months'  pinnance,  (penance)  at  a 
holy  well  in  the  King's  County,  where  I  am  going  next  week  :  if  I  live  to  return, 


132  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

my  son  will  let  me  pass  the  rest  of  my  days  with  him,  should  my  husband  not  allow 


me. 


"  Dr.  Neilson  gives  us,  with  every  appearance  of  authenticity,  a  more  intricate 
matrimonial  case  than  the  foregoing,  where  the  woman  on  her  return  from  Fairy- 
land, finding  her  first  husband  married,  marries  again  herself.  The  second  wife  of 
the  first  husband  dies,  and  he  having  discovered  his  former  spouse  claims  her;  but 
her  second  husband,  being  unwilling  to  part  with  her,  denies  the  claim.  The  ques- 
tion is  referred  to  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal,  where  fairy  agency  will  not  be  acknow- 
ledged, and  which,  under  conflicting  testimony,  is  unable  to  determine  the  matter. 
It  however  ultimately  terminates  in  the  friendly  arrangement,  '  that  both  doors  of 
the  woman's  second  husband's  house  should  be  set  open ;  that  Joyce  (her  former 
husband)  should  stand  seven  steps  from  the  street-door,  and  Thady  in  the  garden, 
seven  steps  from  the  back-door  ;  that  she  should  take  her  choice,  and  abide  by  it 
thenceforward.'  The  child  was  sleeping  in  the  cradle,  and  as  Mary  was  about  to 
depart,  she  went  to  the  child  to  take  leave  of  it  and  shed  a  tear.  She  went  then 
towards  the  street-door,  when  she  heard  the  child  after  her ;  presently  she  returned 
and  remained  without  murmuring  or  uneasiness  with  Thady  Hughes  till  her 
death. 

"  A  curious  spirit,  and  one  I  believe  peculiar  to  Ireland,  is  the  Banshee,  or  White 
Fairy,  sometimes  called  the  Frogh  or  the  House  Fairy.  The  derivation  of  both 
these  names  appears  to  me  obvious  from  the  credulous  personification,  that  of  a 
small  and  shrivelled  old  woman  with  long  white  hair,  supposed  to  be  peculiarly 
attached  to  ancient  houses  or  families,  and  to  announce  the  approaching  dissolution 
of  any  of  the  members  by  mournful  lamentations.  This  fairy  attendant  is  consi- 
dered as  highly  honourable,  and  in  part  of  an  elegy  on  one  of  the  Knights  of  Kerry 
still  extant,  the  family  Banshee  is  introduced  as  deploring,  with  wailing  accents,  the 
knight's  impending  fate  ;  when  every  trader  at  Dingle  who  hears  the  strain  becomes 
alarmed  lest  it  should  forebode  his  own  death  ;  but  the  bard  assures  them,  with  an 
air  of  humorous  sarcasm,  they  have  no  cause  for  uneasiness,  such  warning  being 
given  only  to  those  of  illustrious  descent. 

"  Another  species  of  Irish  fairy  is  the  Phooka ;  the  descriptions  given  of  which  are 
so  visionary  and  undefined  that  it  is  impossible  to  reduce  them  to  detail.  The  name 
of  many  lonely  rocks  and  glens  in  Ireland  declares  them  sacred  to  this  spirit.  In  the 
county  Cork  there  are  two  castles,  called  Carrig  Phooka  or  the  Phooka's  Rock, 
one  near  Doneraile,  the  other  not  far  from  Macroon  ;  and  in  the  county  Wicklow, 
the  celebrated  waterfall  Poula  Phooka,  or  the  Phooka's  Cavern,  is  well  known. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  universal  belief  in  fairy  influence,  the  credence  given  to 
witchcraft  amongst  the  vulgar  Irish  is  by  no  means  proportionate.  Some  few 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  133 

instances  are  historically  preserved ;  but,  considering  the  extent  and  reputation 
which  witchcraft  obtained  during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I.  in  England, 
these  may  be  viewed  as  imparted  rather  than  primitive  superstitions.  The  admira- 
ble account  of  Moll  White  given  in  the  Spectator,  presents  a  collection  of  the 
popular  notions  respecting  the  sorcery  of  old  women ;  and  those  who  are  inclined 
to  investigate  the  subject  further,  may  find  some  hundred  volumes  written 
upon  it. 

"  The  most  remarkable  Irish  witch  on  record  is  Dame  Alice  Ketyll  (whose 
history  is  to  be  found  at  length  in  Camden).  Amongst  the  charges  made  against 
her,  when  examined  in  1325,  was  the  sacrificing  nine  red  cocks  to  her  familiar 
spirit  or  imp,  named  Robyn  Artysson,  '  at  a  stone  bridge  in  a  certaine  foure-crosse 
high-way.1  '  Item,  that  she  swept  the  streets  of  Kilkenny  with  beesomes,  between 
Complin  and  Courefew,  and  in  sweeping  the  filth  towards  the  house  of  William 
Utlan  her  sonne,  by  way  of  conjuring,  uttered  these  words  : 

'  Unto  the  house  of  William,  my  sonne, 
Hie  all  the  wealth  of  Kilkenny  town.' 

"  And  amongst  '  the  goods  and  implements  of  the  said  Alice,  there  was  a  certain 
holy  wafer-cake  found,  having  the  name  of  the  divell  imprinted  upon  it ;  there  was 
found  also  a  boxe,  and  within  it  an  ointment,  wherewith  she  used  to  besmear  or 
grease  a  certain  piece  of  wood,  called  coultree,  which,  being  thus  anointed,  the  said 
Alice  with  her  complices,  could  ride  and  gallop  upon  the  said  coultree  withersoever 
they  would  all  the  world  over,  through  thick  and  thin,  without  either  hurt  or 
hindrance.'  These  things,  we  are  told,  were  notorious ;  and  Dame  Ketyll,  to  avoid 
punishment,  escaped  to  England  ;  but  one  of  her  accomplices,  Pernill  or  Parnell, 
was  burned  at  Kilkenny,  who  avouched  that  Alice's  son  William  '  deserved  death 
as  well  as  herself,  affirming  that  he,  for  a  year  and  a  day,  wore  the  divell's  girdle 
upon  his  bare  bodie.'  Kilkenny  seems  to  have  been  peculiarly  fatal  to  witches.  In 
October  1578,  Cox  relates,  that  Sir  William  Drury,  the  lord  deputy,  caused  thirty- 
six  criminals  to  be  executed  there,  '  one  of  which  was  a  blackamoor,  and  two 
others  were  witches,  and  were  condemned  by  the  law  of  nature,  for  there  was  no 
positive  law  against  witchcraft  in  those  days.' 

"  Some  more  recent  account  of  witches  is  traditionally  preserved  in  Ireland,  parti- 
cularly of  Nanny  Steer,  whose  malign  glance  produced  madness,  and  the  malady 
of  many  a  wretched  lunatic  who  wandered  about  the  country  was  attributed  to 
her  baneful  influence. 

"  In  the  Queen's  county  a  young  man,  named  Rutlidge,  on  the  day  of  his 
marriage,  is  said  to  have  become  a  victim  to  one  of  these  dreadful  looks,  from  his 
having  neglected  to  invite  Nanny  Steer  to  the  wedding,  who  appeared  an  unbidden 

VOL.  I.  M  M 


134  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND 

guest,  and  casting  an  evil  eye  on   the  bridegroom,  he   immediately   became   a 
maniac. 

"  '  In  no  case/  says  Camden,  speaking  of  Irish  superstitions,  '  must  you  praise 
a  horse  or  any  other  beast,  until  you  say  "  God  save  him,"  or  unless  you  spit  upon 
him.  If  any  harm  befall  the  horse  within  three  days  after,  they  seek  him  that 
praised  him,  that  he  may  mumble  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  his  right  ear.  They  think 
that  there  bee  some  that  bewitch  their  horses  with  looking  upon  them,  and  then 
they  use  the  help  of  some  old  hagges,  who  saying  a  few  prayers  with  a  loud  voice, 
make  them  well  again.'  This  belief  in  the  fatal  effects  of  an  evil  eye  is  as  pre- 
valent at  the  present  day  as  when  Camden  wrote ;  and  few,  if  any,  of  the  lower 
orders  will  speak  to  or  of  a  child  without  spitting  out,  and  excusing  himself  should 
a  superior  be  present,  with  '  It's  for  good  luck  sure — and  God  bless  the  boy,  and 
make  a  fine  man  of  him.'  So  powerful  is  this  superstition,  that  even  people  of 
education  and  above  the  ordinary  rank,  are  obliged  from  policy  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  it  in  their  intercourse  with  the  peasantry,  as  few  things  are  considered 
more  dangerous  and  unfriendly,  or  are  longer  remembered,  than  the  omission  of 
such  ceremony. 

"  Another  vulgar  superstition  regarding  witches  is,  their  power  of  assuming  the 
shape  of  some  insect  or  animal ;  the  most  favourite  forms  are  those  of  a  fly  or  hare : 
under  the  latter  disguise  they  are  supposed  to  suck  the  teats  of  cows,  and  thus 
either  deprive  them  of  their  milk,  or  communicate  an  injurious  effect  to  it. 

Of  the  following  story,  numberless  variations  are  in  circulation  amongst  the 
Irish  peasantry.  A  herdsman  having  wounded  a  hare,  which  he  discovered  sucking 
one  of  the  cows  under  his  care,  tracked  it  to  a  solitary  cabin,  where  he  found  an 
old  woman  smeared  with  blood  and  gasping  for  breath,  extended  almost  lifeless  on 
the  floor,  having,  it  is  presumed,  recovered  her  natural  shape. 

"  In  churning,  should  not  the  milk  readily  come  butter,  the  machinations  of  some 
witch  are  suspected.  As  a  test,  the  iron  coulter  of  the  plough  is  heated  in  the  fire, 
and  the  witch's  name  solemnly  pronounced,  with  the  following  charm,  on  whom 
this  spell  is  supposed  to  inflict  the  most  excruciating  tortures — 

'  Come,  butter,  come, 
Come,  butter,  come : 
Peter  stands  at  the  gate 
Waiting  for  a  buttered  cake : 
Come,  butter,  come.' 

And  if  the  milk  has  lost  its  good  qualities  by  means  of  incantation,  it  immediately 
turns  to  excellent  butter. 

"  In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  same  opinion  existed  in  Ireland,  somewhat  tinged 
with  a  relic  of  Pagan  or  Druidical  rites,  fire  being  considered,  before  the  introduc- 


SCENERV    OP    IRELAND.  135 

tion  of  Christianity,  the  immediate  representative  of  the  Deity,  and  the  first  of  May 
as  peculiarly  sacred  to  those  rites,  many  relics  of  which  may  still  be  discovered. 

"  '  They  take  her  for  a  wicked  woman  and  a  witch,  whatever  she  be,  that  cometh 
to  fetch  fire  from  them  on  May-day,  (neither  will  they  give  any  fire  then,  but  unto 
a  sick  body,  and  that  with  a  curse,)  for  because  they  thinke  the  same  woman  will 
the  next  summer  steale  away  all  their  butter.  If  they  find  an  hare  amongst  their 
heards  of  cattell  on  the  said  May-day,  they  kill  her,  for  they  suppose  she  is  some 
old  trot  that  would  fetch  away  their  butter.  They  are  of  opinion  that  their  butter, 
if  it  be  stollen,  will  soone  after  bee  restored  againe,  in  case  they  take  away  some  of 
the  thatch  that  hangeth  over  the  doore  of  the  house,  and  cast  it  into  the  fire.' 

"  Amongst  some  Irish  manuscripts  in  my  possession,  the  composition  I  apprehend 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  there  is  a  long  description,  possessing 
considerable  poetic  merit,  of  a  contest  between  Eogan  and  '  Conn  of  the  Hundred 
Battles,'  part  of  which  presents  a  picture  of  the  appearance  of  some  supernatural 
hags  to  the  contending  chieftains  the  night  previous  to  the  engagement :  the  trans- 
lation is  extremely  literal. 

"  When  Eogan  came  back  from  the  council,  three  witches  stood  before  him  ; 
frightful  beyond  description,  with  red  and  fiery-looking  eyes,  and  long,  lank, 
grizzly  hair  hanging  down  dishevelled  over  cadaverous  countenances.  The  eye- 
brows of  these  fiends  were  large,  rough,  and  grim,  growing  into  each  other,  and 
forming  two  curvatures  of  matted  bristles.  Their  cheeks  were  hollow,  shrivelled, 
and  meagre ;  and  their  beaked  noses  covered  with  parched  skin,  issued  forth  pro- 
minently from  the  deeply-wrinkled  and  knobby  foreheads  of  these  monstrous  and 
filthy  she-devils  !  Their  blasting  tongues,  with  flippant  volubility,  held  ceaseless 
gabble ;  and  their  crooked,  yellow,  hairy  hands  and  hooked  fingers  resembled  more 
the  talons  of  an  eagle  or  a  foul-feeding  harpy,  than  the  fingers  of  a  human  creature. 
Thus,  supported  by  small  inbent  and  bony  legs,  they  stood  before  Eogan. 

"  '  Whence  come  ye,  furies  ? '  asked  the  chief. 

"  '  We  come  from  afar  by  our  powers,'  replied  they. 

"  '  I  demand  to  know  your  powers,'  said  Eogan,  leader  of  the  mighty  bands. 

"  '  We  cause  the  sea  to  run  higher  than  the  mountain-tops  by  our  breath  :  we 
bring  snow  on  the  earth  by  the  nodding  of  our  white  heads  ;  we  spread  flames  in 
dwellings  by  our  words,  we  alter  and  change  the  shape  of  every  person,  nay,  of 
those  in  our  own  occupation,  by  the  rolling  of  our  eyes ;  we — ' 

"  'Enough  !'  cried  the  mighty  Eogan,  '  I  now  demand  your  names.' 

"  '  Our  names,'  returned  the  hags,  '  are  Ah,  Lann,  and  Leana :  we  are 
daughters  of  Trodan  the  magician,  and  we  have  come  from  remote  countries  to 
warn  you  of  your  approaching  death  ;  for  Eogan  shall  die  by  the  keen-edged  and 
bone-cleaving  sword  of  the  ever  victorious  '  Conn  of  the  Hundred  Battles.' ''' 


136  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

"  '  On  your  own  heads  may  this  prophetic  warning  light,  ye  hags  of  hell !'  returned 
Eogan.  '  May  your  forebodings  of  Conn  sink  into  nothing  on  the  air,  and  be  un- 
answered by  the  voices  of  the  mountains.  May  the  trees  bear  the  brunt  of  your 
evil  words,  the  venom  of  your  lips  fall  harmless  on  the  rocks  of  the  valley,  and 
your  malice  be  given  to  the  waves  of  the  ocean.' 

"  '  It  is  inevitable  destiny  we  speak,'  said  they :  '  we  have  spoken  without  preci- 
pitation and  without  reward ;'  and  muttering  of  their  horrid  spells,  they  vanished 
from  Eogan. 

"  That  night  came  the  same  three  hags  to  the  tent  of  the  King  of  Spain's  son, 
and  they  boded  ill  to  him ;  and  thence  they  came  where  the  hosts  of  Conn  of  the 
Hundred  Battles  lay  encamped,  and  they  roused  that  hero  with  these  words : 

"  '  In  thy  arm  be  thy  strength ;  in  thy  sword  be  thy  safety ;  in  thy  face  be  thy 
foes ;  in  thy  strides  thy  prosperity.  The  pride  of  Ireland  is  against  thee,  in  life 
and  in  motion.  Be  thou  restless  as  the  treacherous  light  that  gleams  to  benighted 
travellers.' 

"  In  the  preceding  part  of  the  same  poem  the  support  and  assistance  received  by 
Eogan  and  his  tribe  from  a  sorceress  named  Eadoin  is  mentioned,  who,  in  a  former 
engagement,  so  fascinated  the  eyes  of  Eogan' s  adversaries  by  her  enchantments, 
that  some  rocks  on  the  field  of  battle  assumed  the  appearance  of  formidable  bodies 
of  armed  men ;  and  while  Goll  and  the  sons  of  Moirne,  with  their  valiant  associates, 
attacked  these  flinty  phantoms,  and  were  occupied  in  contest  with  invulnerable  and 
senseless  stones,  the  sorceress  conveyed  the  unwilling  Eogan  and  his  followers 
from  the  scene  of  warfare,  and  embarked  them  for  Spain.  '  The  rock,'  adds  an 
English  note  on  this  passage  of  the  manuscript,  '  which  was  converted  into  the 
resemblance  of  Eogan  and  his  troops,  is  at  this  day  called  the  Scalped  Rock,  in 
Irish  "  Cloch  Bhearrha,"  in  Glean  Rogh,  near  Kin-mare,  from  the  indenture  made 
in  it  by  the  arms  of  Goll,  which  were  shivered  and  broken  into  pieces  thereon.' 

"  As  in  England,  a  worn  horseshoe  nailed  on  the  threshold,  or  near  the  entrance 
of  a  house,  is  considered  as  a  security  against  witchcraft ;  but  this  remedy  is  used 
only  in  the  better  description  of  cabins. 

"  Many  of  the  ancient  Irish  chieftains  have  received  deification,  and  the  credu- 
lous believe  in  their  frequent  reappearance  on  earth  as  the  messengers  of  good 
tidings,  such  as  a  fine  season  or  an  abundant  harvest.  Other  shades  are  com- 
pelled to  perform  certain  penitential  ceremonies  in  expiation  of  crimes  committed 
during  life ;  of  the  latter  may  be  mentioned  an  Earl  of  Kildaire,  doomed  to  ride 
septennially  round  the  Curragh,  an  extensive  common,  until  the  silver  shoes  of  his 
supernatural  steed  are  worn  out.  To  the  former  class  belongs  O'Donnoghue,  a 
chief  of  much  celebrity,  whose  May-day  visit  on  a  milk-white  horse,  gliding  over 
the  Lakes  of  Killarney,  to  the  sound  of  unearthly  music,  and  attended  by  troops  of 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  137 

spirits,  scattering  delicious  spring-flowers,  has  been  lyrically  preserved  by  Mr. 
Moore,  and  is  accurately  recorded  in  a  poem  by  Mr.  Leslie  on  Killarney,  and  in 
Mr.  Weld's  account  of  that  lake,  as  also  in  Derrick's  Letters,  where  some  addi- 
tional particulars  may  be  found  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Ockenden.  '  There  is  a 
farmer  now  alive,'  says  that  gentleman,  '  who  declares,  as  I  am  told,  that  riding 
one  evening  near  the  lower  end  of  the  lake,  he  was  overtaken  by  a  gentleman,  (for 
such  he  judged  him  by  his  appearance  to  be,)  who  seemed  under  thirty  years  of  age, 
very  handsome  in  his  person,  very  sumptuous  in  his  apparel,  and  very  affable  in  con- 
versation. After  having  travelled  for  some  time  together,  he  observed,  that  as  night 
was  approaching,  the  town  far  off,  and  lodging  not  easy  to  be  found,  he  should  be 
welcome  to  take  a  bed  that  night  at  his  house,  which  he  said  was  not  very 
distant.  The  invitation  was  readily  accepted ;  they  approached  the  lake  together, 
and  both  their  horses  moved  upon  the  surface  without  sinking,  to  the  infinite  amaze- 
ment of  the  farmer,  who  thence  perceived  the  stranger  to  be  no  less  a  person  than 
the  great  O'Donnoghue.  They  rode  a  considerable  distance  from  shore,  and  then 
descended  to  a  delightful  country  under  water,  and  lay  that  night  in  a  house  much 
larger  in  size  and  much  more  richly  furnished  than  even  Lord  Kenmare's  at  Kil- 
larney.' 

"  Second-sight,  so  common  in  the  Highlands,  I  believe  is  unknown  in  the  south 
of  Ireland.  Story  relates  a  mysterious  appearance  of  stars,  accompanied  by  heavy 
groans,  that  preceded  the  landing  of  the  rival  monarchs  William  and  James,  seen 
by  '  one  Mr.  Hambleton,  of  Tollymoore,  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  his  county,  and 
a  sober,  rational  man;'  in  company  with  others  who  were  journeying  towards 
Dundalk  ;  adding,  '  they  have  a  great  many  tales  of  this  kind  in  Ireland,  and  the 
Inniskilling  men  tell  you  of  several  such  things  before  their  battles.'  I  should, 
however,  consider  these  visions,  on  account  of  their  northern  limits,  as  derived  from 
Scotland,  and  not  genuine  Irish  superstitions. 

"  I  fear  it  may  be  considered  that  I  have  dwelt  too  long  upon,  and  entered  too 
minutely  into  the  notions  of  the  ignorant ;  but  early  associations  have  tempted  me 
to  linger  over  these  marvellous  relations,  and  have,  perhaps,  misled  my  maturer 
judgment. 

'  Such  fancies  are  the  coinage  of  the  brain, 
Which  oft  rebellious  to  more  sober  thought 
Will  these  strange  phantoms  shape ;  the  idle  prate 
Of  fools  and  nurses,  who  in  infant  mi  nds 
Plant  such  misshapen  stuff,  the  scorn  and  scoff 
Of  settled  reason  and  of  common  sense  ! ' 

"  On  the  whole,  from  what  may  be  collected,  the  present  state  of  Irish  superstition 
closely  resembles  that  of  England  during  the  age  of  Elizabeth ;  a  strong  proof  of 

VOL.  I. 


138  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

the  correct  measurement  of  those  who  have  stated  a  space  of  two  centuries  to  exist 
between  the  relative  degree  of  popular  knowledge  and  civilization  attained  by  the 
sister  kingdom." 


XVI. 


THE  ROCK  OF  CASHEL  arrests  the  traveller  on  his  road  from  Limerick  to  Kilkenny 
— a  remarkable-looking  eminence,  the  only  one  in  an  extensive  plain,  and  crowned 
with  a  pile  of  the  noblest  assemblage  of  monastic  ruins  in  Ireland.  It  resembles 
nothing  that  I  remember  except  the  citadel  of  Gratz,  built  on  just  such  a  rock,  with 
a  town  at  its  base.  The  ruins  are  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  both  a  monastic 
and  a  regal  edifice  ;  and  from  the  want  of  regularity  in  plan,  as  well  as  peculiarities 
in  the  workmanship  and  style  of  ornamenting,  appear  to  have  been  the  work  of 
several  periods.  The  town  of  Cashel,  once  the  residence  of  the  kings  of  Munster, 
has  now  dwindled  into  a  place  of  very  moderate  pretensions.  "  The  want  of  a 
navigable  river,"  says  Wright,  "  is  the  only  assignable  cause  for  the  desertion  of 
this  royal  seat,  encompassed  by  a  great  extent  of  country,  fertile  as  cupidity  could 
desire,  and  diversified  by  gentle  undulations.  The  most  ancient  structure  in  the 
group  of  buildings  on  the  rock  is  called  Cormac's  Chapel,  from  the  founder, 
Connac-mac-culinan,  King  of  Munster  and  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  who  flourished 
in  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century,  and  was  slain  in  battle  by  the  Danes. 

"  The  chapel,  the  first  and  perhaps  the  only  edifice  that  graced  the  rock  in 
ancient  times,  is  entirely  of  stone,  both  walls  and  roof;  the  latter  ridged  up  to  an 
acute  angle,  the  sides  or  legs  of  which  are  tangents  to  a  counter-arch,  springing 
from  the  inner  front  of  the  walls.  The  doorway  is  in  the  Saxon  style,  which  per- 
vades also  the  other  parts  of  the  chapel,  and  is  adorned  with  zig-zag  and  bead 
ornaments.  Above  the  archway  is  the  effigy  of  an  archer  in  the  act  of  shooting  at 
an  ideal  animal.  The  ceiling  or  roof  is  of  stone,  groined,  with  square  ribs  springing 
from  stunted  Saxon  pillars,  with  enriched  capitals.  There  is  one  rich  Saxon  arch, 
ornamented  with  grotesque  heads  of  men  and  animals,  placed  at  intervals  all  round 
from  the  base  upwards,  and  a  second  arch  within  the  recess  or  crypt,  probably 
intended  to  receive  the  altar.  The  walls  are  relieved  by  blank  arcades,  and  the 
ceiling  by  numerous  grotesque  heads.  The  pilasters,  from  which  the  blank  arches 
spring,  have  been  adorned  with  a  variety  sculptures,  and  their  capitals  anciently  gilt 


those  who  hn*  *UHMI  •  space  of  two  centuries  to 

o'  •  •uMiU,    ..  u»»!  civilization  attained  by  the 


v.  i.:u:   !--!»m  Limerick  to  Kilkenny 
i    -.11  extensive  plain,  awl  .-rowued 

•  ruiiii-   !•.    Ireland.      It  utseuibles 
it. ,  built  >>u  just  such  a  rock,  with 
iiu:  to  !t.:v.'  in  t-n  both  ii  monastic 
:iv  ::i  p'.a:i.  :is  v.cll  ri-  peculiarities 

Imvc  >«>..  i»i«  work  of 

C.lM; -;jiJj:ji:S.        "  Tile    NVaflt    of  a 

desertion  of 

.  cupidity  could 

'  structure  in  the 

•dm  the  founder, 

'  ,i-l»-t,  who  flourished 

u  m  r.ai.       ,y.  the  Danes. 

.!••*!  graced   the  rock  in 

Jitter  ridged  up  to  an 

ci  -unter-arch,  springing 

.--,    ..   »>!••  Saxon  siyle,  which  per- 

.  .i;.:.)riied  with  zig-zag  and  bead 

•i  u'rhvi  in  the  act  of  shooting  at 

roined,  with  square  ribs  «• 

•  .  Th<!re  is  one  rich, Saxon  arch, 
i    .     ;  uoed  at  intervals  all  . 

in  the  recess  or  crypt,  pro- 
lieved  by  blank  arcades,  «i> 
en,  from  which  the  blank  *n- 
S  and  their  capitals  anci< 


8CEN!  °.(V  j!       KKHND. 

•  .     ;       '  •     '   •  •-'•  '          -in    .-if  *.!>,_  into 

a  minute  •                         A  small  ct!l  .>  the.  iicrth  sido  of  t 

to  have    !                      /v.-r  the   remains,  of   the  fou-.'ic.,  ;u>d 


with  a  cro^f!.     Th<-  <  \'.<  nci 
« 

'   .    n      •'   -.  •-'.'''':   : 


sepl  of  th»  cathedvwt,  a; 
of  our  early,-ajic«>t''i- 

"  Between,  tlic  ^-^.\ 
rude  pedestal  -*oiui  >>iu' 
St.  Patrick...- \)»  thi<*  - 
nionsirch  of  wbibd  >•  . 


intL-fitiou 


the 


able 


"  The  rock  of  Cai 
taken  by  I-oid  I*.  i;i 


.;<;  iiob.'u"ft  strii'. 

,-    Lid  .;:i 


i  y  r 


.-  -    -.    i<>ii$iiltTable  inler 
1  ••.    \  i  .  ljir*i)o|j  Donat  in  1'Jiij,  .nul  enclosed 
hy  a  '"'  ;  i;,..<.i  UK    -c  »  era  1  defences,  and 


I 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  139 

over ;  but  the  imperfect  view  which  the  half-light  of  the  interior  admits  is  fatal  to 
a  minute  examination.  A  small  cell  on  the  north  side  of  the  chapel  is  supposed 
to  have  been  built  over  the  remains  of  the  founder,  and  a  niche  in  the  wall 
canopied  his  tomb.  Above  the  doorway  of  the  corresponding  recess  is  another  of 
those  hieroglyphic  emblems — a  quadruped,  the  hind-quarters  of  which  are  marked 
with  a  cross.  The  exterior  of  the  chapel  preserves  an  exact  uniformity  of  style, 
and  is  adorned  with  blank  arches,  separated  by  short  pillars  with  grotesque  capitals, 
and  at  the  western  end  it  is  attached  to  a  lofty  square  tower. 

"  The  pillar-tower  raises  its  tapering  form  at  the  eastern  angle  of  the  north  tran- 
sept of  the  cathedral,  and  unites  with  Cormac's  chapel  in  confirming  the  superiority 
of  our  early  ancestors  in  masonry  and  ornamental  architecture. 

"  Between  the  deanery-house  and  the  cathedral  is  a  curious  stone,  raised  on  a 
rude  pedestal :  one  side  is  carved  with  a  crucifixion,  and  the  other  witli  an  effigy  of 
St.  Patrick.  On  this  stone  the  Toparchs  of  Munster  were  crowned,  as  the  great 
monarch  of  Ireland  was  upon  the  Lia-fail,  or  stone  of  destiny,  now  placed  beneath 
the  coronation  chair  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

"  About  the  year  1495  the  cathedral  was  burned  by  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  with  the 
barbarous  intention  of  destroying  Archbishop  Creagh,  whom  he  supposed  to  have 
been  within  during  the  conflagration.  This  turbulent  noble  was  afterwards  impeached, 
and  amongst  the  various  charges  brought  against  him  was  this,  of  having  burned 
the  cathedral  of  Cashel.  He  readily  confessed  his  fault,  and  added,  '  that  he  never 
would  have  done  it,  but  that  he  thought  the  archbishop  was  within  it  at  the  time.' 
The  candour  and  simplicity  of  his  confession  convinced  King  Henry  that  he  could 
not  be  capable  of  the  intrigues  and  duplicity  with  which  he  was  charged  ;  and  when 
the  Bishop  of  Meath  concluded  the  last  article  of  impeachment  with  the  remark- 
able words,  '  You  see  all  Ireland  cannot  rule  this  gentleman;'  the  king  instantly 
replied,  '  Then  he  shall  rule  all  Ireland,'  and  forthwith  appointed  him  to  the  lord- 
lieutenancy  of  that  kingdom. 

"  The  rock  of  Cashel  was  regularly  fortified  in  the  year  1 647,  but  stormed  and 
taken  by  Lord  Inchiquin,  who  put  all  the  clergy  he  found  there  to  death.  Divine 
service  continued  to  be  performed  here  until  the  Gothic  reign  of  Archbishop  Price, 
who  unroofed  the  choir,  and  commenced  the  Cromwellian  mode  of  beautifying  a 
country,  by  converting  its  noblest  structures  into  picturesque  ruins. 

"  Many  other  monastic  ruins  adorn  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  exceedingly  deserv- 
ing of  antiquarian  notice.  Hore  Abbey  retains  some  of  its  beautiful  groined  arches 
and  slender  tower,  and  Hacket's  Abbey  possesses  considerable  interest. 

"  Cashel  was  constituted  a  borough  by  Archbishop  Donat  in  1216,  and  enclosed 
by  a  stone  wall  in  1320.  Archbishop  O'Hedian  repaired  the  several  defences,  and 


140  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

built  a  hall  for  the  vicars  choral  in  the  year  1421.  The  city  now  returns  one  mem- 
ber to  the  imperial  parliament. 

"  The  great  '  Magician  of  the  North'  arrived  at  Cashel  on  his  way  to  the  metro- 
polis, and  being  unprepared  for  a  spectacle  so  magnificent,  one  so  suited  to  the 
peculiar  habit  of  his  soul,  forgot  his  intended  journey,  and  was  found  wandering 
amongst  the  lone  aisles  of  the  cathedral  at  the  approach  of  night.  Another  eminent 
individual,  an  eloquent  candidate  for  the  suffrages  of  his  countrymen,  felt  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  ruined  pile  that,  hanging  over  his  rude  forum,  told  him  of  the  once  proud 
pre-eminence  of  his  country.  '  Here,1  he  exclaimed,  '  rny  cradle  was  first  rocked,  and 
the  lirst  object  that  in  my  childhood  I  learned  to  admire  was  that  noble  ruin,  an 
emblem  as  well  as  a  memorial  of  Ireland,  which  ascends  before  us,  at  once  a  tem- 
ple and  a  fortress,  the  seat  of  religion  and  nationality,  where  councils  were  held, 
where  princes  assembled,  the  scene  of  courts  and  of  synods,  and  on  which  it  is 
impossible  to  look  without  feeling  the  heart  at  once  elevated  and  touched  by  the 
noblest  as  well  as  the  most  solemn  recollections.'  The  effect  of  such  an  address 
upon  a  people  of  such  an  enthusiastic  temperament  may  readily  be  concluded.  The 
orator  obtained  the  reward  of  his  poetic  and  eloquent  appeal." 

The  view  from  the  summit  of  the  ruins  of  CASHEL  is  very  extensive  and  beau- 
tiful. The  county  of  Tipperary  is  spread  out  below, — one  beautiful  variegated  plain, 
richly  cultivated,  and  bounded  by  the  Galtee  and  other  mountain  ranges  ;  while  at 
the  foot  of  the  rocks  the  beautiful  pleasure-grounds  of  the  archbishop  spread  out 
in  lawn,  clumps,  and  shrubberies,  like  (to  use  Mr.  Inglis's  simile)  a  piece  of  Mosaic 
work. 

There  is  a  legend  which  says,  "  that  Cashel  was  first  pointed  out  to  the  herds- 
men of  Core,  King  of  Munster,  by  a  heavenly  messenger,  who  foretold  the  coming 
of  St.  Patrick,  and  that  the  king  immediately  erected  a  royal  palace  on  the  spot, 
now  called  Carrick-Phadring  or  Patrick's  Rock,  and  from  receiving  here  the  rent  or 
revenue  of  his  kingdom,  it  was  called  Ciosoil  (since  corrupted  into  Cashel),  cios 
signifying  rent,  and  oil  a  rock. 

"  The  remains  of  the  old  cathedral,  which  overlook  the  town,  prove  that  it  must 
have  been  a  very  extensive  and  beautiful  Gothic  structure,  boldly  towering  on  the 
celebrated  rock  of  Cashel,  and  forming  with  it  a  magnificent  object,  bearing  honour- 
able testimony  to  the  labour  and  ingenuity,  as  well  as  the  piety  and  zeal  of  its 
former  inhabitants.  It  is  seen  at  a  great  distance  and  in  many  directions.  The 
extent  of  the  nave  and  choir,  from  east  to  west,  is  about  two  hundred  feet,  and  the 
steeple  is  in  the  centre  of  the  cross.  Divine  service  continued  to  be  performed  in 
this  venerable  cathedral  till  1752,  when  Archbishop  Price  unroofed  the  choir, 
and  it  was  speedily  converted  into  a  ruin.  Archbishop  Agar  endeavoured  to  restore 


SCKNkHY    J»»    ISKL4ND. 

\ 

' .  ii'ir.i  ;.      The  city  now  returns  one  , 

«i  «U  Caj.m-1  .«  hi*  way  to  the  metro- 

:•>!    -i  .;•••.;::        .     j.i.ti.1,..,   -at,  one  so  suited  to  the 

:  |MMnie\,  and   w<w  found  wandering 

.4. .09f«i.«c!>  o!  ";^i,t.  Another  eminent 

•  ;  i  he  once  proud 

-..  il.--  was  ti!.-t  rocked,  and 

.-H  thai,  uobltj  ruin,  au 

'•'in:  uii,  at  once  a  tem- 

•-   ci  tun-.-U  were  held, 

•»     -i  ".'•'  <»t   wliich  it  is 

T  ti  VL-hed  by  the 

''•"•••:  •;   -nth  an  addiV,-» 

i*  o  'iiciuded.  Th< 

».i  i..-,\t  and  beau- 
.  i.r  v;> ••icguicd  plain, 
!  >••<  raiijes  ;  while  ;it 
s1  urclilMshop   spread  out 
.i  piece  of  Mosaic- 
out  to  the  herds- 

•  ''•  »»!••*  "j retold  the  coming 

j.-;dace'  on  the  spot, 

.  HI*  i»ing  here  the  rent  or 

•I-*]  into  Cashel),  don 

''I  c.vtheofi.    »A.--A  !.•••>•.:  .,j«.  tiv   -fown,  prove  that  it  must 
••:  ai 'i  'tiuctim-,  Iwldly  towering  on  the 

;:iui  i  ••!.;,*¥  •'.  ,tv  •(  .  magnificent  object,  bearing  honour- 

-  the  piety  and  zeal  of  iu 

;  sci.ii   i>    ,«  ince  mr;  in  many  directions.     The 

•  >,;•  -  : 'In" .1  »wo  hrtndred  feet,  and  tftt 

f'if-  '  i'         MMiued  to  be  perfo 

1  •  -hbishop  Price  unroofed  t 

.-ndeuvourcii  to  cestOK 


As 


'.    iNI'liY     OH     IRhl  4ND. 

r,  but  its  ililsipiaaied  rendition 


the  attempt  frui 


•i  all  ! 


is  eleven -fe»>ji  I1 
Munifer  wttrerc 

*  ''     i 

Chapel,  By  s'6me 

considers  It  (ihi.-  <j 
of  pillars  ancV\.i] 
tec  tun-.  .uidTcti^ 
is,  fifty  feot,by  t. "•; 
Both  en.flj.-'''oir'.- 


by  Contwc 
Patrick. 
••-•'*  Hore  Afc 
near  t  hx  oftth 
bishop  l'^-.  M 


of  this  f-difice  still  rein, 
the  inside:'  tln*cast  \vi 


lateral  ais 
is  a  small 
broa 

Hei. 


be».-u  a 


tiAj  I  *  ..  ;.-  81.  f 
t'  t'vtt-  tl..  •.».-  \v»M, 
-t'.'.t:  *  t-Uit:  .-ivt'.'it 


ight  of 
V  to 

o  o 


• 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  141 

it  to  its  pristine  glory,  but  its  dilapidated  condition  rendered  the  attempt  fruitless, 
and  a  new  cathedral  was  soon  after  erected.  Near  the  east  angle  of  the  north  aisle  of 
the  old  cathedral  is  a  round  tower,  from  which  to  the  church  there  is  a  subterraneous 
passage.  This  tower  is  supposed  to  be  the  oldest  structure  upon  the  rock  of  Cashel, 
from  this  circumstance,  that  all  the  erections  upon  the  rock,  which  is  limestone,  are 
built  of  the  same  materials,  except  the  tower,  which  is  of  freestone.  It  is  fifty- 
four  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base,  and  the  height  of  the  door  from  the  o-round 
is  eleven  feet.  It  consists  of  five  stories,  each  of  which,  from  the  projecting  layers 
of  stone,  appears  to  have  had  its  window.  The  stone  on  which  the  ancient  kings  of 

O 

Munster  were  crowned  still  remains  near  this  spot. 

"  Connected  with  the  cathedral,  on  the  south  side  of  the  choir,  is  King  Cormac's 
Chapel,  by  some  supposed  to  be  the  first  stone  building  in  Ireland.  Dr.  Ledwich 
considers  it  one  of  the  most  curious  fabrics  in  the  kingdom,  and  its  rude  imitation 
of  pillars  and  capitals  makes  it  appear  to  have  been  copied  after  the  Grecian  archi- 
tecture, and  long  to  have  preceded  that  which  is  usually  called  Gothic.  This  chapel 
is  fifty  feet  by  eighteen  in  the  choir,  and  of  a  style  totally  different  from  the  church. 
Both  on  the  outside  and  inside  are  columns  over  columns,  better  proportioned  than 
one  could  expect  from  the  place  or  time.  The  ceiling  is  vaulted,  and  the  outside  of  the 
roof  is  corbelled,  so  as  to  form  a  pediment  pitch.  It  is  very  probable  it  was  built 
by  Cormac  on  the  very  foundation  of  the  church  originally  erected  here  by  St. 
Patrick. 

"  Hore  Abbey,  called  also  St.  Mary's  Abbey  of  the  Rock  of  Cashel,  was  situated 
near  the  cathedral  church,  and  originally  founded  for  Benedictines  ;  but  the  Arch- 
bishop David  M'Carbhuil,  of  the  family  of  the  O'Carrols,  dispossessed  them  of 
their  houses  and  lands,  and  gave  their  possessions  to  a  body  of  Cistercian  monks, 
and  at  the  same  time  took  upon  himself  the  habit  of  that  order.  The  noble  ruins 
of  this  edifice  still  remain.  The  steeple  is  large,  and  about  twenty  feet  square  on 
the  inside ;  the  east  window  is  small  and  plain,  and  in  the  inside  walls  are  some 
remains  of  stalls ;  the  nave  is  sixty  feet  long  and  twenty-three  broad,  and  on  each 
side  was  an  arcade  of  three  Gothic  arches,  the  north  side  whereof  is  levelled,  with 
lateral  aisles,  which  were  about  thirteen  feet  broad  ;  on  the  south  side  of  the  steeple 
is  a  small  door  leading  into  an  open  part,  about  thirty  feet  long  and  twenty-four 
broad ;  the  side-walls  are  much  broken,  and  in  the  gable-end  is  a  long  window : 
there  is  a  small  division  on  the  north  side  of  the  steeple,  with  a  low  arched  apart- 
ment, which  seems  to  have  been  a  confessionary,  as  there  are  niches  in  the  walls 
with  apertures. 

"  A  monastery,  called  Racket's  Abbey,  was  founded  in  Cashel  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.  for  Conventual  Franciscans,  by  W.  Racket.  In  the  night  of  the  14th 
of  February,  1757,  the  lofty  and  beautiful  steeple  of  this  friary  fell  to  the  ground. 

VOL.  i.  o  o 


142  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

The  edifice  was  situated  at  the  rear  of  Friars '-street,  but  is  now  so  much  gone  to 
ruin  that  it  is  difficult  to  trace  its  divisions. 

"  Amongst  the  ruins  many  ancient  pieces  of  sculpture,  containing  interesting 
inscriptions,  have  recently  been  discovered." 

Ours  is  an  age  of  memoirs,  reminiscences,  autobiographies,  and  personal 
sketches,  and  we  miss  from  the  history  of  the  romantic  old  Irish  kings  the  material 
(which  will  be  profuse  in  those  of  our  own  time)  for  forming  a  familiar  idea  of  their 
characters,  loves,  frailties,  and  lighter  qualities.  In  such  a  spot  as  Cashel,  where  kings 
have  succeeded  kings,  each  with  a  life  of  human  passions  and  interests,  and  where 
little  is  left  beyond  the  name  and  the  habitation,  the  imagination  longs  for  some  data 
by  which  to  paint  the  fancy-pictures  of  bygone  times.  One  story  has  come  down 
to  us,  the  wrong  of  which  it  treats  having  prepared  the  way  for  the  first  conqueror 
of  Ireland,  and  a  poetical  and  well-told  story  it  is.  Lady  Chatterton  listened  to  it 
from  the  lips  of  one  of  the  wandering  bards  of  Erin,  and  she  gives  it  us  in  his  im- 
passioned language.  "  In  ancient  days,"  he  said,  "  when  the  Roman  Emperor 
Adrian  had  a  wall  built  across  Britain  to  keep  his  hold  over  that  country,  we  had  a 
glorious  king  of  our  own,  who  reigned  over  the  whole  of  Ireland  ;  his  name  was 
Tuathal,  and  he  was  the  greatest  monarch  who  ever  caused  the  golden  stone  to 
groan  at  their  coronation.* 

"  His  forefathers  had  governed  Ireland  for  upwards  of  a  thousand  years,  since 
the  days  of  his  great  Ancestor  Milesius.  In  his  time  the  royal  palace  at  Tara  was 
the  abode  of  all  the  beauty  and  bravery,  both  of  our  own  land  and  from  foreign 
parts.  The  song  of  the  bard  and  the  music  of  harps  were  never  silent. 

"  The  king's  two  daughters,  Daireen  and  Fithir,  were  so  lovely  that  no  prince  in 
all  the  world  was  thought  good  enough  to  be  their  husbands.  They  had  been 
instructed  by  the  queen,  their  mother,  who  was  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Fin- 
land, in  all  the  curious  arts  of  the  time. 

"  Daireen,  the  eldest,  was  like  a  swan  ;  her  voice  was  sweeter  than  any  harp  in 
the  hall ;  and  so  full  of  wisdom  were  her  words,  that  not  only  were  those  in  the 
palace  always  watching  to  catch  the  sound,  but  it  was  said,  that  '  a  voice  from  the 
kingdom  of  souls'  (that  which  we  now  call  echo)  used  to  repeat  her  sayings  to  those 
outside  the  walls. 

*  "  This  stone,"  says  Ware,  "  was  brought  by  the  Tuatha  de  Denains  into  Ireland,  and  was 
used  at  the  coronation  of  their  kings.  It  is  pretended  that  during  the  ceremony  an  astonishing 
noise  or  groan  issued  from  it.  This  wonderful  stone  was  lent  by  a  king  of  Ireland  to  Feargus, 
King  of  Albania  in  Scotland,  in  order  to  render  the  ceremony  of  his  inauguration  more  solemn  : 
unfortunately  it  never  returned  to  Ireland.  Keneth  had  it  placed  in  a  wooden  chair,  in  which 
the  kings  of  Scotland  sat  at  the  time  of  their  coronation  in  the  Abbey  of  Scone  ;  whence  it  was 
transferred  by  Edward  I.  of  England,  and  placed  in  Westminster  Abbey,  where,  they  say,  it 
is  still  preserved." 


-^    KM    HI       ••' 


r  tit   ;.he  re 


Ihe 


I-  it   .*  now  so  much  gone  u> 
:>•»;-.  Containing  T 

i'*nes,   and    per 

•  ijki  t;i.«h  kings  the  material 

1,1.1.1.  ,.     i..  i liar  idea  of  their 

.  f  -j  •  '         .  >;u  1,  where  kings 

.>'-,  and  where 

'ur  some  data 

•  •  v  h  ,-  come  down 

'T>«t  conqueror 

il-.li.iCtl  to  it 


i;    foreig! 

••    ,a  no  prince  i; 
They  .had  been 
\-.c  King  of  1'in- 

•  !iai;  afcy  harp  ID 
t-ro  those  in  th. 
a  voice  from  th«  • 


tine  into  IrolanJ,  imd  «a> 
•  ceremony  nn  aatoni^liiiii; 
ig  fit  Ir^iaii''  to  '• 
Hkuguration  m 


SCENERY    OP    IRELAND.  143 

'•  On  her  soft  cheek  with  tender  bloom 

The  rose  its  tint  bestowed  ; 

And  in  her  richer  lips'  perfume 

The  ripened  berry  glowed. 

'  Her  neck  was  as  the  blossom  fair, 

Or  like  the  cygnet's  breast ; 

With  that  majestic  graceful  air, 

In  snow  and  softness  drest. 

'  Gold  gave  its  rich  and  radiant  die, 

And  in  her  tresses  flowed, 
And  like  a  freezing  star,  her  eye 
With  heaven's  own  splendour  glowed.' 

"  Fithir,  the  youngest  sister,  was  gentle  as  a  cooing  dove,  and  fairer  and  more 
modest  than  the  snowdrop  in  spring. 

'  Bright  her  locks  of  beauty  grew, 

Curling  fair  and  sweetly  flowing  ; 
And  her  eyes  of  smiling  blue — 

Oh  !  how  soft — how  heavenly  glowing!' 

She  was  several  years  younger  than  her  sister,  whom  she  adored  with  all  the  vene- 
ration due  to  a  superior  being.  Indeed,  so  fond  were  these  two  royal  maidens  of 
each  other,  that  it  was  said  by  some,  that  the  reason  they  refused  the  hand  of 
many  illustrious  monarchs  was  that  they  might  never  be  separated.  Others  believed 
that  they  had  made  a  vow  to  dedicate  their  lives  to  each  other,  and  to  the  service  of 
their  God. 

"  Daireen,  who  was  proud  and  haughty  to  all  the  world,  was  gentle  as  a  lamb  to 
her  lovely  sister,  while  Fithir  would  overcome  the  timidity  of  her  disposition  to 
accompany  the  more  adventurous  Daireen  when  she  went  to  chase  the  wild  deer  in 
the  forest. 

"  The  most  valorous  and  handsome  youth  of  that  glorious  age  was  the  Prince 
of  Leinster.  He  often  visited  at  the  court  of  his  royal  kinsman,  and  was  sure  to 
win  the  prize  of  all  martial  exercises,  as  well  as  the  oak-leaf  crown,  which  was 
bestowed  by  the  fair  hands  of  the  princesses  themselves,  for  the  best  songs  and 
poems. 

"  Above  all,  he  excelled  in  calling  forth  tones  from  the  harp,  which  were  said  to 
draw  tears  from  the  starry  eyes  of  the  haughty  Daireen ;  and  that  this  lady,  who 
had  never  looked  on  any  other  man  but  to  command,  and  who  caused  even  the  great 
king  her  father  sometimes  to  quail  beneath  the  glance  of  her  dark  eye,  was  seen 
once  to  smile  on  the  young  prince ;  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  the  Prince  of  Leinster 
was  the  only  visitor  at  the  court  who  had  not  sought  the  hand  of  either  princess. 


144  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

"  Some  thought  that  he  was  perplexed  between  the  loveliness  of  both,  and  knew 
not  which  to  choose.  Fithir,  indeed,  looked  on  the  handsome  youth  with  admira- 
tation,  as  well  she  might,  but  she  seldom  addressed  a  word  to  him,  though  she 
seemed  to  enjoy  listening  to  his  eloquent  discourse  with  her  sister. 

"  At  last  a  change  came  over  the  Princess  Daireen,  she  was  no  longer  the  oracle 
of  the  court ;  the  roses  forsook  her  cheeks,  her  harp  became  unstrung,  and  the  heart 
of  her  father  was  sad.  The  noble  youths  who  had  been  proudly  refused  by  her,  were 
delighted  to  see  this,  and  many  were  the  hopes  her  softening  manner  gave  rise  to. 

"  Some  say,  that  about  this  time  the  Prince  of  Leinster  declared  his  love  for  the 
gentle  Fithir,  and  that  he  was  rejected  either  by  the  maiden  herself  or  the  king 
her  father,  who  would  not  suffer  the  younger  to  marry  before  the  elder.  How  this 
was  can  never  be  known ;  but,  however,  it  came  to  pass,  that  after  a  time  the 
Prince  of  Leinster  and  the  beautiful  Daireen  were  married. 

"  The  nuptials  were  splendid  ;  for  eight  days  and  eight  nights  the  sound  of 
music  and  mirth  never  ceased  in  all  Ireland;  and  the  many  brilliant  colours  of  the 
robes  worn  by  the  joyful  people,  caused  the  face  of  the  country  to  look  like  a  rain- 
bow. 

"  At  the  end  of  this  time,  the  young  prince  conducted  his  bride  to  his  own  palace 
in  Leinster ;  and  both  he  and  Daireen  implored  permission  to  take  the  Princess 
Fithir  with  them,  but  the  king  was  unwilling  to  part  with  her. 

"  Poor  Fithir  was  inconsolable  for  the  loss  of  Daireen ;  all  the  joyousness  of  her 
heart  fled  ;  she  who  had  always  till  this  moment  been  the  light  and  life  of  Tara's 
halls,  and  the  joy  of  her  father's  soul,  now  secluded  herself  from  dance  and  song, 
and  devoted  her  whole  time  to  the  service  of  her  God. 

"  A  gloom  was  cast  on  the  hitherto  brilliant  court,  and  neither  minstrels  nor 
tournaments  enlivened  the  silent  palace. 

"  The  king  caused  physicians  and  others  noted  for  their  skill  in  the  healing  art, 
to  try  and  restore  the  spirits  of  his  darling  child,  but  nothing  would  succeed.  At 
last  the  queen,  who  knew  how  little  medicine  can  avail  when  the  mind  is  sad,  and 
who  was  well  aware  that  the  heart  of  Fithir  was  bound  up  in  the  absent  Daireen, 
implored  the  king  to  allow  them  to  visit  the  young  pair  in  Leinster. 

"  He  consented,  and  preparations  were  making  for  the  royal  progress,  when  the 
melancholy  intelligence  reached  them,  that  the  Princess  Daireen  had  died  in  giving 
birth  to  her  first-born  son. 

"  Soon  afterwards  the  Prince  of  Leinster  visited  Tara ;  he  was  attired  in  the 
deepest  mourning,  and  every  one  was  struck  with  the  change  his  inconsolable  grief 
had  made  in  his  appearance.  He  was  gloomy  and  sullen  ;  no  one  ventured  to 
speak  of  Daireen  in  his  presence ;  the  sound  of  her  name  seemed  intolerable  to 
him. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  145 

"  When  poor  Fithir  contemplated  the  change  which  sorrow  had  wrought  on  the 
countenance  of  her  brother-in-law,  she  exerted  herself  to  control  her  own  anguish, 
that  she  might  comfort  him.  He  had  brought  with  him  the  infant  of  her  adored 
sister,  and  Fithir  never  suffered  it  to  depart  a  moment  from  her  sight.  King 
Tuathal,  though  he  suffered  intensely  from  the  loss  of  his  beloved  daughter,  was 
glad  to  see  that  Fithir,  though  at  first  nearly  overwhelmed  by  the  agony  of  this 
sudden  blow,  seemed  roused  by  it  from  the  state  of  hopeless  lethargy  into  which 
she  had  been  plunged  since  Daireen's  departure.  The  care  of  her  sister's  child  had 
given  her  some  object  in  life  ;  and  though  her  soft  blue  eyes  were  often  bedewed 
with  tears,  she  would  smile  on  the  beautiful  infant,  and  caress  it  for  hours. 

"  Soon  the  Prince  of  Leinster  talked  of  returning  to  his  own  territory:  Fithir  joined 
her  entreaties  with  those  of  the  king,  that  he  would  leave  his  child  at  Tara ;  but 
the  youthful  father  refused ;  and  indeed  no  one  wondered  at  his  unwillingness  to  part 
with  all  that  remained  to  him  of  the  beautiful  Daireen,  the  dear  pledge  of  their 
love,  the  only  object  which  could  cast  a  ray  of  joy  over  his  widowed  days. 

"  On  the  day  previous  to  the  one  fixed  for  his  departure,  he  had  a  long  interview 
with  Fithir ;  many  were  the  tears  they  shed  together  over  the  unconscious  babe, 
who  smiled  innocently  upon  them  both. 

"  Perhaps  the  widowed  prince  thought  it  cruel  to  separate  Fithir  from  the  object 
of  her  love,  whose  little  arms  were  so  often  clasped  round  her  snowy  neck  ;  and 
therefore  he  lingered  day  after  day  and  month  after  month  at  the  palace.  It  began 
to  be  surmised  at  last,  that  he  was  as  much  in  love  with  Fithir  as  he  had  been  with 
her  beautiful  sister,  and  had  succeeded  in  gaining  her  affections,  and  obtaining  her 
father's  consent  to  their  nuptials  ;  and  soon  the  rumour  was  confirmed  by  the  pre- 
parations for  the  marriage. 

"  The  wedding  was  as  splendid  as  that  of  Daireen's ;  but  tradition  says,  there 
was  a  gloom  over  the  whole  scene.  The  harp  of  the  chief  bard  suddenly  broke, 
while  he  was  chanting  the  marriage  hymn ;  and  the  airs  to  which  the  guests 
danced  at  night  sounded  like  mournful  dirges  ;  the  brilliantly  illuminated  halls 
became  dim,  and  the  torches  outside  refused  to  burn. 

"  However,  all  these  ill  omens,  which  were  considered  to  bode  bad  luck  by  the 
sages  of  the  court,  did  not  seem  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  young  couple,  pnd  if 
the  Prince  of  Leinster  was  not  so  joyous  a  bridegroom  as  formerly,  it  was  no  won- 
der, considering  how  recently  he  had  buried  the  beautiful  Daireen. 

"  Fithir,  though  timid  and  retiring,  had  from  childhood  been  of  a  joyous  dispo- 
sition ;  and  the  king  and  queen  forgot  all  their  sorrow  in  witnessing  the  restored 
health  and  beauty  of  the  beloved  princess.  They  saw  her  depart  for  her  splendid 
home  in  Leinster  without  regret,  resolving  before  long  to  visit  her  there. 

"  Fithir  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by  her  husband's  subjects ;  flowers  were 

P    P 

VOL.  I. 


146  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

strewed  beneath  her  steps,  and  she  found  everything  in  the  palace  as  splendid  as 
all  she  was  accustomed  to  at  her  father's  court ;  but  nothing  could  cause  her  to 
forget  the  dear  sister  whom  she  had  loved  so  deeply. 

"  Often  did  she  visit  the  cairn  which  covered  her  remains,  and  she  would  take 
the  infant  prince  to  weep  over  it  with  her :  but  she  could  never  prevail  upon  her 
husband  to  accompany  her  in  her  daily  visits  to  the  grave ;  indeed,  he  often  chid 
her  for  allowing  anything  to  disturb  the  serenity  of  her  life,  and  never  suffered 
Daireen's  name  to  be  mentioned. 

"  One  evening,  about  six  months  after  their  marriage,  as  Fithir  was  returning 
through  a  lonely  part  of  the  garden  from  her  sister's  grave,  she  heard  sounds  of 
distress.  They  seemed  to  proceed  from  a  tower  which  flanked  the  ancient  part  of 
the  old  castle,  which  she  understood  had  not  been  inhabited  since  the  death  of  the 
late  prince. 

"  Fithir  paused  to  listen ;  and  then,  urged  by  curiosity  and  a  wish  to  relieve  the 
sufferer,  attempted  to  clamber  up  the  steep  bank  on  which  the  tower  was  situated. 
But  the  increasing  darkness  rendered  this  difficult ;  and  the  timidity  of  her  dispo- 
sition made  her  fearful  of,  she  knew  not  what.  There  was  something,  too,  so 
melancholy  in  those  plaintive  sounds,  that  it  inspired  her  with  a  vague  apprehension. 
Could  it  be  the  spirit  of  her  sister  which  hovered  over  this  spot  ?  She  was  accus- 
tomed to  think  of  Daireen  as  in  a  state  of  bliss — she  well  knew  the  purity  of  her 
mind ;  her  great  comfort  was  in  considering  that  she  was  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
happy  hereafter  they  had  so  often  talked  of  together. 

"  Could  that  dear  sister  be  suffering  from  the  omission  of  some  rite  or  sacrifice, 
and  thus  have  incurred  the  vengeance  of  one  of  the  offended  gods  ? 

'•'  Full  of  painful  and  perplexing  thoughts,  she  returned  to  the  castle.  There  was 
a  brilliant  entertainment  that  evening,  but  Fithir's  heart  was  sad  ;  she  longed  for 
the  last  guest  to  depart,  that  she  might  tell  all  her  fears  to  the  husband  who  knew 
and  entered  into  her  every  thought  and  feeling. 

"  The  time  at  length  arrived;  but  no  sooner  had  she  begun  her  tale,  than  she  was 
alarmed  at  the  dark  and  gloomy  expression  that  lowered  on  her  husband's  brow. 
He  rebuked  her  angrily,  and  refused  to  listen  to  the  excuses  the  trembling  princess 
endeavoured  to  make  for  having  offended  him.  He  hurried  out  of  the  apartment, 
after  having  extorted  from  her  a  promise  never  to  mention  her  sister's  name. 

"  Fithir  loved  her  husband  with  all  the  ardour  of  her  affectionate  nature ;  but  the 
memory  of  her  sister  was  to  her  so  hallowed,  that  she  was  miserable  at  his  prohi- 
bition. 

"  It  was  no  unusual  thing  in  those  pagan  times  to  marry  a  kinswoman  or  sister 
of  the  deceased,  which  custom  was  probably  derived  from  our  ancestors  the  Egyp- 
tians, who  received  many  ideas  of  religion  from  Moses  and  the  Israelites.  This 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  147 

being  customary,  Fithir  never  imagined  that  the  prince's  conscience  could  be  troubled 
by  the  idea  of  having  given  a  successor  to  his  first  wife;  nor  had  she  felt  any  com- 
punction herself  at  having  stepped  into  her  sister's  place,  because  she  was  thereby 
fulfilling  a  sacred  duty. 

"  There  was  in  the  castle  an  old  attendant,  who  had  accompanied  Daireen  to 
Leinster,  and  who  was  ardently  attached  to  both  princesses ;  but  her  spirits  had 
never  recovered  the  death  of  Daireen,  and  she  seldom  came  into  the  presence  of 
Fithir  unless  when  summoned  to  attend  her. 

"  To  this  old  lady,  whose  name  was  Scota,  the  princess  now  confided  her  cares, 
and  the  next  evening  was  accompanied  by  her  in  her  pilgrimage  to  her  sister's  tomb. 
On  their  return,  they  passed  near  the  old  tower,  but  no  sounds  of  lamentation  were 
heard  :  days  and  weeks  passed  away,  no  mysterious  sound  again  reached  the  ears 
of  Fithir,  and  she  began  to  reproach  herself  for  having  disturbed  her  husband's 
mind  by  her  vain  imaginings.  She  redoubled  her  attentions  to  him,  and  peace  and 
happiness  seemed  again  restored. 

"  To  add  to  her  joy,  the  king  and  queen  were  expected  on  a  visit,  and  the  delighted 
Fithir  was  busy  in  preparing  for  their  reception.  The  day  previous  to  that  fixed  for 
their  arrival,  the  prince  was  absent  on  a  hunting  excursion  in  the  mountains ;  and 
Fithir,  attended  by  old  Scota,  was  taking  her  diversion  in  the  beautiful  gardens  of 
the  palace.  Her  dear  sister's  child  could  now  walk  alone,  and  began  to  delight  her 
with  its  innocent  prattle.  She  was  in  expectation  of  soon  being  a  mother  herself, 
but  she  doubted  whether  her  love  would  be  so  intense  even  for  her  own  offspring  as 
for  the  little  Heremon,  who  had  quite  the  features  of  her  adored  sister.  It  was  the 
first  time  the  prince  had  been  absent  since  their  marriage  ;  and  with  that  tender- 
ness, mingled  with  sadness,  which  a  first  separation  from  a  beloved  object  sometimes 
causes,  she  indulged  in  reflections  on  the  amiable  points  of  her  husband's  character, 
and  the  blissfulness  of  her  lot. 

"  As  she  gazed  on  the  beautiful  views  and  the  distant  mountains  where  her  lord 
was  sporting,  little  Heremon  rambled  towards  the  bank  on  which  the  ruined  tower 
was  situated,  and  in  childish  waywardness  had  clambered  up  almost  to  the  summit 
of  the  precipitous  bank.  The  old  attendant  Scota  was  the  first  to  perceive  his 
dangerous  situation,  and  prudently  abstaining  from  screaming,  she  called  her  lady's 
attention  to  him.  They  both  followed  as  quickly  as  they  could  climb  up  the 
perilous  ascent :  Fithir's  nimble  feet  first  reached  the  boy,  and  clasping  him  in  her 
arms,  she  returned  thanks  to  the  gods  for  his  preservation. 

"  But  to  descend  was  not  so  easy  ;  and,  after  a  fruitless  attempt,  she  desisted, 
and  resolved  to  try  and  reach  the  summit.  It  was  with  considerable  difficulty, 
while  holding  the  child  on  one  arm,  that  she  at  last  reached  a  sort  of  recess  near 
the  bank,  but  below  the  foundation  of  the  old  tower  wall.  This  recess  she  found 


148  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

to  be  a  grated  aperture  or  window :  it  was  too  closely  barred  to  allow  of  her  passing 
through  ;  and  seeing  no  other  means  of  escape,  she  called  to  Scota  to  send  some 
attendants  with  a  ladder  to  rescue  her  from  this  dangerous  and  dizzy  height.  Scota 
flew  to  execute  her  bidding,  and  Fithir  sat  down  on  the  window-sill  to  repose  after 
her  fatiguing-  effort. 

"  Was  it  fancy,  or  did  she  really  hear  that  plaintive  voice  within,  which  had  once 
before  met  her  ears  ?  No,  it  was  not  the  wind — a  dying  voice  seemed  to  pronounce 
her  own  name.  Fithir  shuddered  :  '  Am  I  so  soon  then  to  die  ? '  said  she,  caressing 
the  child  ;  '  cannot  I  live  to  see  thee  a  man  ? '  Again,  '  Fithir  !  dearest  Fithir ! ' 
was  distinctly  pronounced.  '  I  will  come  to  thee,  my  sister,  my  love,'  said  the 
weeping  princess. 

"  You  must  know  that  in  those  old  days,  people  were  said  to  hear  their  own 
name  pronounced  before  they  died,  by  the  voice  of  the  dearest  friend  who  was  gone 
before  them  to  the  land  of  spirits.  Fithir's  first  thought,  therefore,  naturally  was, 
that  her  summons  was  come,  and  her  days  in  this  world  were  numbered.  She 
listened  breathlessly,  expecting  to  hear  once  more  the  spirit's  voice;  but  it  was  no 
sound  from  the  abode  of  the  departed  that  again  met  her  ear.  No,  this  time  the 
conviction  was  too  strong,  that  those  were  the  living,  suffering,  plaintive  accents  of 
a  mortal,  to  admit  of  a  doubt. 

"  '  Fithir,  my  own  darling  sister,  come  to  me,  I  am  dying,'  was  uttered  in  still 
fainter  and  more  imploring  tones. 

"  At  this  moment  the  attendants  arrived  with  a  ladder.  The  first  impulse  of  the 
bewildered  Fithir  was  to  cause  the  bars  of  the  window  to  be  broken  in.  Trembling 
with  awe  and  apprehension,  she  entered  the  dark  chamber  and  caused  a  diligent 
search  to  be  made :  a  torch  was  procured,  and  by  its  light  a  narrow  staircase  was 
discovered.  A  low  moaning  seemed  to  proceed  from  overhead.  Fithir,  in  an  agony 
of  expectation,  was  the  first  to  mount  the  stairs,  and  soon  she  found  herself  in  a 
small  low  room,  faintly  illuminated  by  a  narrow  slit  in  the  wall. 

"  On  the  ground  lay  a  pale  and  emaciated  form ;  and  in  this  wreck  of  mortality, 
Fithir  recognized  her  beloved  sister.  In  a  moment  they  were  clasped  in  each 
other's  arms.  Neither  spoke  for  a  length  of  time.  Old  Scota  and  the  astonished 
servants  stood  gazing  with  speechless  horror,  not  knowing  whether  the  wretched 
object  they  beheld  was  the  real  frame,  or  the  spiritual  shadow  of  their  once  beau- 
tiful mistress. 

"  The  two  sisters  wept,  and  then  smiled  through  their  tears,  as  if  for  some  time 
unmindful  of  anything  in  this  world  but  the  intoxication  of  meeting.  Perhaps, 
indeed,  both  were  instinctively  afraid  to  speak,  lest  the  charm  of  seeing  each  other 
should  be  broken ;  lest  some  fearful  mystery  should  be  unravelled,  which  might 
plunge  them  in  unspeakable  woe. 


SCENERY    OF    1RF.LVSD.  1  )9 

"  It  was  M  if  they  lingered  on  the  luvu-  of  a  precipice,  down  which  tliey  wen 
destined  to  l»  Irufk-n,  ivsolvcd  v  make  ''u  ::.;>s1  "f  the  last  r.mii'  (its  of  I.!'.;  brtW-1 
the  blessed  light  of  another  day  was  •,  i 

"  But  at  last  the  sinking  frame  <>i    iJ.i'iv,-  ,      .-k    ,..,   |.  ngei    -uj     .!• 
joy  which  had  been  excited   ut   !••  •'•!,'•       "i'<'>i 

hollow  cheek,  a  hectic^  like  the  t(  ;.;  ;.  •  •  :;, 

it  is  extinguished.    H-r  c><  - 
heusion  of  losing  K-^-<.H<  r 
done  this?  who  i»  tin  «  -  •<  li 

"  '  Ah  !    who  indewl  ' 
force,  she  exclaimid,  '  T<  ! 
Heaven  uptui  Ker  i;\n\-\  heu-; 

•"Rival!  ca,,  .!  -I,,:.  1, 

"  '  Know  oi  it  '  it  »-kis 
form  into  this  II-IT:,.: 
the  lather  of  mv  cii.'  ; 

"  Stunned  ;>y  thr- 
dui\£reoii  fii>or.       Ifti    If. 
too  iruicii. 


that  it  \v-t*  llu-  priiu  . 
Too  soon  the  fatal  i.cui    \c 
innocent  rival,  she  cluf^. 
sister,  and  her  last  s'icr1'  '• 

"  Thr  ipngeanw  of  KIUL;    i!. 
large  array,  the  posst*su.n.-  i  •' 
desolatetJ  the  whole  pruvimx.  : 
resolved  that  all  the  subjects  !•>: 
of  the  prince. 

"  This  tribute  was  the  cause  > 

^h  sixteen  centuries  have  t>iU^ 
lament  the  guilty  passion  of  the  1 
Dai  i 

iles  frora  Caghel,  on  the  Son,  in  u  n/-,h  p»«tornl  district,  stands  the  vithip' 
of  HOLV  CKOSS,  ;,  humble  harol«t  enough,  but  interesting  from  the  fine  pik-  of 

^ayiiithenwtMofit. 

«  wa^  ,:    :     :...  •       r,  g  <t   North  Muiwter,  and  the 

,»  by  Gregory,  Abbot  of  Holy  Cross;  Maurice, 

«JQ 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  149 

"  It  was  as  if  they  lingered  on  the  brow  of  a  precipice,  down  which  they  were 
destined  to  be  hurled,  resolved  to  make  the  most  of  the  last  moments  of  life  before 
the  blessed  light  of  another  day  was  quenched  for  ever. 

"  But  at  last  the  sinking  frame  of  Daireen  could  no  longer  support  itself:  the 
joy  which  had  been  excited  at  the  sight  of  her  sister,  had  brought  a  glow  to  her 
hollow  cheek,  a  hectic,  like  the  fever-spot,  which  burns  brighter  the  moment  before 
it  is  extinguished.  Her  eyes  closed  :  it  was  then  that  Fithir,  in  agony  at  the  appre- 
hension of  losing  again  her  beloved  sister,  exclaimed,  '  Dearest  Daireen,  who  has 
done  this  ?  who  is  the  wretch  that  has  inflicted  this  dreadful  doom  ?  ' 

"  '  Ah  !  who  indeed  ? '  groaned  Daireen  ;  then  starting  up  with  supernatural 
force,  she  exclaimed,  '  Tell  me  who  is  my  rival,  that  I  may  hurl  the  imprecation  of 
Heaven  upon  her  guilty  head  ?  Who— who  has  deprived  me  of  my  husband's  love  ?' 

"  '  Rival !  can  it  then  be  ?  the  Prince  of  Leinster — can  he  know  of  this  ? ' 

"  '  Know  of  it !  it  was  his  arms  that  dragged  me  here,  that  cast  my  struggling 
form  into  this  horrid  dungeon.  It  is  for  him  I  live— yes,  for  vengeance  on  him, 
the  father  of  my  child.' 

"  Stunned  by  the  dreadful  disclosure  these  words  conveyed,  Fithir  sank  upon  the 
dungeon  floor.  Her  husband — her  idol — he  whom  she  thought  so  perfect !  it  was 
too  much. 

"  They  ran  to  raise  her  from  the  dungeon  floor  :  she  was  dead  ! 

"  Daireen's  shattered  frame  retained  the  weary  spirit  only  long  enough  to  learn 
that  it  was  the  prince's  guilty  passion  for  her  dear  sister  had  caused  her  sufferings. 
Too  soon  the  fatal  truth  was  told  ;  but  far  from  cherishing  revenge  against  her 
innocent  rival,  she  clung  with  the  energy  of  despair  to  the  lifeless  form  of  her  lovely 
sister,  and  her  last  sigh  was  breathed  upon  the  bosom  of  her  childhood's  friend. 

"  The  vengeance  of  King  Thuathal  was  terrible  :  he  invaded,  at  the  head  of  a 
large  army,  the  possessions  of  his  guilty  son-in-law ;  and  not  content  with  this,  he 
desolated  the  whole  province,  and  levied  a  tribute  on  the  kingdom  of  Leinster, 
resolved  that  all  the  subjects  for  succeeding  generations  should  suffer  for  the  guilt 
of  the  prince. 

"  This  tribute  was  the  cause  of  most  of  the  misfortunes  and  civil  wars  of  Ireland. 
Though  sixteen  centuries  have  rolled  over  our  old  country,  we  have  still  cause  to 
lament  the  guilty  passion  of  the  Prince  of  Leinster ;  the  fatal  beauty  of  Fithir  and 
Daireen." 

Eight  miles  from  Cashel,  on  the  Suir,  in  a  rich  pastoral  district,  stands  the  village 
of  HOLY  CROSS,  a  humble  hamlet  enough,  but  interesting  from  the  fine  pile  of 
monastic  ruins  mouldering  to  decay  in  the  midst  of  it.  "  This  abbey,"  says  Wright, 
"  was  commenced  in  1182,  by  Donald  O'Brien,  king  of  North  Munster,  and  the 
charter  of  its  foundation  was  witnessed  by  Gregory,  Abbot  of  Holy  Cross;  Maurice, 

VOL.  i.  Q  Q 


]50  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

Archbishop  of  Cashel ;  and  Britius,  Bishop  of  Limerick.  The  style  of  its  dedica- 
tion is  said  to  be  attributable  to  a  piece  of  the  true  Cross,  that  was  presented  in 
the  year  1110  to  Murtagh,  Monarch  of  all  Ireland,  by  Pope  Pascal  II.  This  relic, 
set  in  gold  and  adorned  with  precious  stones,  was  preserved  in  the  abbey  until  the 
approach  of  the  Reformation,  when  it  was  saved  from  annihilation  by  the  family  of 
Ormonde  ;  by  them  it  was  committed  to  the  Kanaught,  who  delivered  it  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  of  this  district,  to  which  it  anciently  belonged.  The  holy 
relic  measures  only  two  inches  in  length,  is  very  thin,  secured  in  the  shaft  of  an 
episcopal  cross,  and  enclosed  in  a  gilt  case. 

"  Peculiar  privileges  and  extensive  demesnes  were  attached  to  this  religious 
establishment.  Its  charter  was  confirmed  by  King  John  and  by  Henry  III.,  who 
took  the  abbey  under  his  royal  protection.  The  abbot  sat  as  a  baron  in  parliament, 
was  styled  Earl  of  Holy  Cross,  and  was  also  vicar-general  of  the  Cistercian  order 
in  Ireland.  While  the  relic,  from  which  the  abbey  takes  its  dedicatory  name,  con- 
tinued here,  numbers  of  all  classes  and  ranks  in  society  made  pilgrimages  hither; 
amongst  whom  the  Great  O'Neil  and  one  of  the  proud  Desmonds  are  mentioned. 
Soon  after  the  general  dissolution,  however,  the  abbey  and  its  valuable  estates  were 
granted  to  Thomas  Earl  of  Ormonde,  at  an  annual  rent  of  £15. 

"  The  architecture  of  the  nave  is  inferior  to  that  of  the  tower,  transepts,  and  choir. 
The  tower  is  supported  on  lofty  pointed  arches  ;  the  roof  groined  in  a  style  of 
superior  workmanship,  and  pierced  with  five  holes  for  the  transit  of  the  bell-ropes. 
The  north  transept,  which  is  also  groined,  is  separated  into  two  chapels,  one  of 
which,  the  baptistry,  was  lighted  by  a  window  of  peculiar  design,  and  contains  the 
baptismal  font.  Here  are  the  fragments  of  an  altar-tomb :  to  this  the  south 
transept  is  similar.  The  choir  is  adorned  with  two  rich  monumental  relics,  of 
designs  entirely  original,  and  unlike  any  sepulchral  or  ecclesiastical  architecture  to 
be  seen  in  other  countries  :  one,  which  separates  two  little  sanctuaries,  consists  of  a 
double  row  of  pointed  arches  springing  from  pillars,  enriched  with  spiral  flutings, 
less  rich,  but  resembling  the  Apprentice's  Pillar  inRoslin  Chapel ;  the  base  is  orna- 
mented with  trefoils  and  finials,  and  at  one  side  is  a  small  font  for  the  reception  of 
holy  water.  The  interior  dimensions  favour  the  idea  that  this  curious  piece  of 
architecture  received  the  remains  of  the  deceased  during  the  performance  of  the 
funeral  mass  ;  but  it  is  also  conjectured  to  have  been  erected  as  a  shrine  for  the 
reception  and  display  of  the  sacred  remnant  of  the  true  cross,  already  spoken  of. 

"  The  second  memorial  alluded  to  is  equally  interesting  from  the  beauty  of  its 
design;  but  its  sepulchral  appropriation  is  yet  uncertain.  A  projecting  canopy  of 
stone  is  supported  by  three  trefoil  arches,  springing  from  slender  columns  of  black 
marble :  the  soffit  of  the  canopy  is  groined,  and  the  pedestal  of  the  monument 
enriched  with  sculpture.  Its  position  on  the  south  side  of  the  high  altar  has  led 


.  ^ 


antiquar 
Donaid 
nor  tli- 
being  a 
of  whic-l 
cross ',  t 
of  the  t 


The 


castle,  h< 
views   In 


very  choice  0)1 
Ireland.    TJ.ei 


*,  ats  the  princely  r-.- 
niiy  Castle.      It  appears  to  huve  1- 
,w)  ae  eaHy  **  1172 ;  but  this  > 
x,r.  r    j   Limerick,  it  w»s  rebu.i 
u   tin:    His^ession  of  whose 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  151 

antiquaries  to  attribute  this  mausoleum  to  the  original  founder  of  the  abbey, 
Donald  O'Brien;  but  as  the  architectural  decorations  do  not  justify  so  early  a  date, 
nor  the  armorial  bearings  resemble  those  of  the  O'Brien  family,  the  idea  of  its 
being  a  royal  monument  is  no  longer  entertained.  There  are  five  escutcheons,  three 
of  which  bear  arms,  beneath  the  canopy :  the  first  shield  on  the  dexter  side  bears  a 
cross  ;  the  second,  the  arms  of  England  and  France,  quarterly  ;  the  third,  the  arms 
of  the  Butlers ;  and  the  fourth  seems  to  bear  the  anus  of  the  Fitzgerahls.  From 
an  inspection  of  these  heraldic  proofs,  and  reference  to  the  peerage,  it  is  concluded 
that  this  elegant  monumental  structure  was  raised  to  the  memory  of  the  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  wife  of  James  l\7.  Earl  of  Ormonde,  commonly  called  '  The 
White  Earl',  who  died  about  the  year  1450." 

The  entrance  into  Kilkenny,  and  the  romantic  view  of  the  castle  of  the  Ormonds 
rising  above  the  river,  reminded  me  strongly  of  one  of  the  views  of  Warwick  Castle. 
The  first  impression  of  the  town  from  a  cursory  glance  is  extremely  fine;  the  cathe- 
dral of  St.  Canice,  the  castle,  and  other  very  imposing  structures,  coming  into 
almost  every  view,  from  the  unevenness  of  the  ground,  and  the  happily  chosen  sites 
of  all  these  edifices.  Kilkenny  is  divided  into  two  parts,  called  Irish-town,  (the 
neighbourhood  of  the  cathedral,)  and  English-town,  (that  of  the  castle,)  the  latter, 
thrifty-looking  and  well  built,  and  having  an  air  of  gentility,  in  which  many  of  the 
second-class  of  Irish  towns  are  rather  deficient. 

The  morning  after  my  arrival,  some  friends  were  kind  enough  to  accompany  me 
to  KILKENNY  CASTLE,  which  is  being  modernized  within  and  un-modernized  with- 
out ;  the  old  furniture  giving  place  to  the  luxuries  of  London  in  our  own  time,  and 
the  walls  and  towers  undergoing  castellation.  We  were  first  taken  through  the 
gardens  and  conservatories,  laid  out  and  supported  in  princely  magnificence  ;  and 
thence  we  crossed  the  public  road  to  the  castle,  which  we  were  most  civilly 
shown  "  from  turret  top  to  donjon  keep."  You  would  scarce  fancy  yourself  in  a 
castle,  however,  in  any  part  of  it ;  and  my  own  recollections  are  principally  of  the 
views  from  the  windows,  which  were  unequalled  for  picturesque  richness,  parti- 
cularly one  from  a  balcony  overhanging  the  Nore.  I  should  not  forget,  however,  a 
picture  of  a  Marchioness  of  Ormond,  which  struck  me  exceedingly,  and  one  or  two 
very  choice  old  cabinets.  Historically,  this  castle  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in 
Ireland.  There  is  perhaps  no  baronial  residence  in  Ireland  that  can  boast  at  the 
same  time  of  a  foundation  so  ancient,  a  situation  so  magnificent,  and  so  many 
historical  associations,  as  the  princely  residence  of  "  the  chief  butler  of  Ireland," 
Kilkenny  Castle.  It  appears  to  have  been  originally  erected  by  Richard  de  Clare 
(Strongbow)  as  early  as  1 172 ;  but  this  structure  having  been  destroyed  by  Donald 
O'Brien,  King  of  Limerick,  it  was  rebuilt  in  1195,  by  William  Lord  Marshall,  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  in  the  possession  of  whose  descendants  it  remained  till  the  year  1391., 


152  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

when  it  was  purchased  by  James  Butler,  the  third  Earl  of  Ormond,  from  Thomas 
le  Spencer,  Lord  of  Glamorgan  and  Kilkenny,  whose  grandfather,  Hugh,  acquired  it 
and  the  earldom  of  Gloucester  in  marriage  with  Eleanor  de  Clare,  third  sister  and 
coheir  of  Gilbert,  ninth  Earl  of  Clare  and  Gloucester.  From  this  period  to  the 
present  it  has  been  the  chief  residence  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Ormond  ;  and  we 
trust  shall  long  continue  so.  Here,  in  1399,  the  earl  had  the  honour  of  receiving 
King  Richard  II.,  and  of  entertaining  that  sovereign  for  fourteen  days.  In  March 
1650,  when  the  city  was  invested  by  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  its  defence  entrusted  to 
Sir  Walter  Butler,  the  cannon  of  the  former  were  opened  on  the  castle,  and  a 
breach  was  effected  on  the  25th,  about  midday  ;  but  the  besiegers  were  twice  gal- 
lantly repulsed,  and  the  breach  was  quickly  repaired.  On  this  occasion  it  was  said 
that  Cromwell,  apprehending  a  longer  resistance  than  suited  the  expedition  neces- 
sary in  his  military  operations  at  the  time,  was  on  the  point  of  quitting  the  place, 
when  he  received  overtures  from  the  mayor  and  townsmen,  offering  to  admit  him 
into  the  city.  He  accordingly  took  possession  of  Irish-town,  and  being  soon 
after  joined  by  Ireton  with  fifteen  hundred  fresh  men,  "  Sir  Walter  Butler, 
considering  the  weakness  of  the  garrison,  few  in  number,  and  those  worn  out  for 
want  of  rest  by  continued  watching,  and  hopeless  of  relief,  determined  to  execute 
Lord  Castlehaven's  orders,  which  were,  that  if  they  were  not  relieved  by  seven 
o'clock  the  day  before,  he  should  not,  for  any  punctilio  of  honour,  expose  the 
townsmen  to  be  massacred,  but  make  as  good  conditions  as  they  could  by  a  timely 
surrender.  A  parley  was  beaten,  and  a  cessation  agreed  on  at  twelve  o'clock  the 
next  day,  when  the  town  and  castle  were  delivered  up."  The  articles  of  capitula- 
tion were  highly  creditable  to  the  garrison ;  and  it  is  recorded,  that  Sir  Walter 
Butler  and  his  officers  when  they  marched  out  were  complimented  by  Crom- 
well, who  said,  "  that  they  were  gallant  fellows ;  and  that  he  had  lost 
more  men  in  storming  that  place  than  he  had  in  taking  Drogheda,  and  that 
he  should  have  gone  without  it,  had  it  not  been  for  the  treachery  of  the  towns- 
men." 

Of  the  original  castle,  as  rebuilt  by  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  but  little  now 
remains.  It  was  an  oblong  square,  of  magnificent  proportions,  with  four  lofty  round 
towers  at  its  angles.  This  castle  was  re-edified  by  the  first  Duke  of  Ormond, 
towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  the  bad  style  of  architecture  then 
prevailing  on  the  continent,  a  taste  for  which  had  probably  been  imbibed  by  the 
duke  in  his  repeated  visits  to  France.  It  retained,  however,  three  of  the  ancient 
towers,  but  changed  in  character,  and  disfigured  by  fantastic  decorations  to  make 
them  harmonize  in  style  with  the  newer  portions  of  the  building.  That  structure 
has  again  been  removed  by  the  present  marquess,  and  one  of  better  taste,  the  sub- 
ject of  our  present  Engraving,  erected  on  its  site,  preserving,  however,  the  ancient 


s^. 


towers,  and  res  lor 
tect  is  Mr.  Ri'i«-ri 

The  interior  «>l 
ancient  tapei»jn<-» 
rials  of  soir.o  •  •* 
centuries. 

Nothing,  ean  >• 
eminence  unou-tV..-. 


a  t«-ii! 
plan, 
th<-  u 


aisles,  and  augment 

to  the  lengths  of  t! 
from  massive  column 
and  two  Gothic  fw;. 
"  The  choir  exteiwl 
pie  gntndeur  by  any 

TOL.  I. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  153 

towers,  and  restoring  them  to  something  like  their  original  character.  The  archi- 
tect is  Mr.  Robertson  of  Kilkenny. 

The  interior  of  the  castle  will  shortly  be  adorned  with  its  original  collection  of 
ancient  tapestries  and  pictures,  valuable  as  works  of  art,  but  still  more  as  memo- 
rials of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  historical  personages  of  the  two  last 
centuries. 

Nothing  can  be  finer  than  the  situation  of  Kilkenny  Castle,  placed  on  a  lofty 
eminence  immediately  overhanging  that  charming  river, 

" The  stubborn  Ne\vre,  whose  waters  grey 

By  fair  Kilkenny  and  Rosse-ponte  broad." 

From  the  military  I  went  to  the  ecclesiastical  eminence  of  the  town,  the  hill 
opposite  the  castle,  crowned  with  the  noble  CATHEDRAL  OF  ST.  CANICE.  This,  to 
me,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  masses  of  architecture  in  Ireland.  The  hill  on 
which  it  stands  is  crowned  with  noble  trees,  which  hide  and  disclose  the  old  towers 
very  picturesquely,  the  tall  shaft  of  the  famous  Round  Tower  soaring  above  all,  and 
the  approach  is  by  a  long  and  ancient  stone  staircase,  very  like  the  ascent  to  some 
of  the  monasteries  near  Sorrento.  The  graceful  proportions  of  the  cathedral  give 
it  a  lightness  and  elegance  not  common  to  buildings  of  that  capacity,  it  being 
(among  Irish  churches)  only  inferior  in  size,  I  think,  to  Christ's  Church  and  St. 
Patrick's  in  Dublin.  "  It  was  commenced,"  says  the  chronicler,  "  about  the  year 
1180,  by  Felix  O'Dullany,  who  translated  the  old  see  of  Sagir  from  Aghaboe  to 
Kilkenny.  The  greatness  of  the  first  design  was  such  as  its  authors  could  never 
have  expected  to  see  completed,  which  induced  them  to  cover  in  and  finish  the 
choir,  and  proceed  at  once  to  consecration,  leaving  to  posterity  the  sacred  task  of 
conducting  the  noble  plan  to  its  consummation.  This  vast  pile  is  cruciformed, 
extending  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  from  east  to  west,  and  the  length  of  the 
transepts  measuring  one  hundred  and  twenty-three.  The  nave  is  distributed  into 
a  centre  and  two  lateral  aisles,  communicating  by  pointed  arches,  springing  from 
plain  pillars  of  black  marble.  Four  pointed  windows  illuminate  each  aisle,  and 
the  upper  part  of  the  nave  is  lighted  by  five  quatrefoil  windows.  Many  ancient 
monuments,  differing  in  degrees  of  pomp  and  costliness,  are  erected  in  the  side- 
aisles,  and  augment  the  solitary  graves  of  the  venerable  place,  and  the  luxurious 
melancholy  which  such  memorials  inspire.  The  tower,  much  too  low  in  proportion 
to  the  lengths  of  the  choir  and  transept,  is  supported  upon  groined  arches,  springing 
from  massive  columns  of  marble.  The  western  window  is  triplicated,  and  a  cross 
and  two  Gothic  finials  crown  the  centre  and  angles  of  the  great  gable. 

"  The  choir  extends  seventy-seven  feet  in  length,  and  is  uninterrupted  in  its  sim- 
ple grandeur  by  any  of  the  trifling,  though  not  unusual,  decorations  of  cathedral 

VOL.  i.  R  R 


154  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

churches.  St.  Mary's  Chapel  is  situated  to  the  north  of  the  choir,  communicating 
with  the  north  transept ;  and  the  chapter-house  and  bishop's  court  occupy  corre- 
sponding positions  on  the  south.  The  pillar-tower  seems  to  claim  admission  amongst 
the  venerable  temples  raised  to  the  true  religion,  by  its  proximity  to  the  church  ; 
but  how  far  it  is  entitled  to  that  respect,  is  still  a  matter  of  uncertainty. 

"  The  present  condition  of  the  cathedral  reflects  much  credit  upon  the  learned 
incumbents  of  the  see  of  Ossory  for  some  years  past ;  amongst  whom,  one  of  the 
chief  in  benevolence  and  in  learning  was  Dr.  Pococke,  who  raised  and  set  up  the 
inverted  monuments,  restored  the  shattered  walls,  and  re-edified  the  whole  structure. 
The  tombs  of  St.  Canice  may  be  esteemed  as  so  many  historic  records ;  and  to 
a  country  whose  history  is  still  disfigured  or  obscured,  such  memorials  are  in- 
valuable. 

"  The  chair  or  throne  of  St.  Kieran,  a  stone  seat  with  arms  of  upright  stone, 
having  a  graceful  curve,  stands  in  the  north  transept.  This  patriarch  is  believed  to 
have  preceded  St.  Patrick  by  thirty  years  in  his  holy  mission,  and  to  have  been  the 
first  to  preach  Christianity  in  Ireland.  Under  the  second  window  from  the  vestibule 
is  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Bishop  Walshe,  the  unhappy  manner  of  whose 
death  has  been,  by  political  influence,  unnoticed  in  the  inscription.  In  the  year 
1585,  the  bishop  cited  one  James  Dullard,  a  profligate  wretch,  to  appear  in  his 
court  and  reply  to  a  charge  of  adultery,  but  the  monster  answered  the  citation  by 
breaking  into  the  palace  of  the  bishop,  and  stabbing  him  to  the  heart  with  a  skean. 
After  the  perpetration  of  this  bloody  deed  he  fled  into  Troy's  Wood,  and  uniting 
himself  to  the  banditti  that  then  infested  the  vicinity,  stated  the  mode  in  which  he 
had  qualified  himself  for  his  new  vocation ;  but  the  banditti,  shocked  at  the  crimes, 
and  disgusted  with  the  confidence  of  Dullard,  brought  him  to  a  formal  trial  amongst 
themselves,  and  finding  him  guilty,  immediately  twisted  a  gad  around  his  neck,  and 
hung  him  from  a  tree  in  the  forest. 

"  Many  sepulchral  honours  are  here  raised  to  the  memory  of  the  ancient  and 
illustrious  house  of  Butler ;  perhaps  that  of  Peter  Butler,  eighth  Earl  of  Ormonde, 
who  died  in  1539,  and  his  countess,  Lady  Margaret  Fitzgerald,  are  better  known  to 
the  historian  than  others  erected  to  the  same  illustrious  family.  The  effigy  of  the 
earl  is  distinctly  relieved  in  black  marble,  at  full  length,  and  in  complete  armour,  his 
sword  laid  across  his  body,  and  his  feet  resting  on  a  dog.  The  same  monument 
entombs  the  mortal  remains  of  his  haughty  countess,  whose  memory  is  perpetuated 
by  the  Irish,  under  the  name  of  '  Moryhyhead  Ghearhodh.'  This  extraordinary  lady, 
inheriting  the  martial  spirit  of  her  ancestors,  was  always  attended  by  numerous 
vassals,  well  clothed  and  accoutred,  and  composing  a  formidable  army.  She  had 
several  strong  castles  within  the  limits  of  her  territory,  of  which  that  at  Ballyrag- 
get  was  her  favourite  citadel,  on  the  top  of  which  her  chair  is  still  shown.  Campion 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  155 

calls  her  '  a  rare  woman,  and  able  for  wisdom  to  rule  a  realm,  had  not  her  stomach 
overruled  herself.'  Her  lord  being  appointed  to  the  government  of  Ireland,  is 
supposed  to  have  discharged  the  high  duties  with  honour  and  approbation ;  the 
latter  owing  to  the  prudent  counsels  of  his  lady,  '  a  lady  of  such  port,  that  the 
estates  of  the  realm  couched  to  her;  so  politic  that  nothing  was  thought  substan- 
tially debated  without  her  advice ;  warlike  and  tall  of  stature,  very  rich  and 
beautiful ;  a  bitter  enemy ;  the  only  means  by  which  in  those  days  her  husband's 
country  was  reclaimed  from  the  sluttish  Irish  customs  to  the  English  habits.' 

"  James  Butler,  eldest  son  of  this  remarkable  lady,  supposed  to  have  been  poi- 
soned at  a  banquet,  died  at  his  house  in  Holborn,  London.  His  biographer  adds, 
that  '  his  death  bred  sorrow  to  his  friends,  little  comfort  to  his  adversaries,  great 
loss  to  his  country,  and  no  small  grief  to  all  good  men.' 

"  Dr.  Pococke  died  in  the  see  of  Meath,  to  which  he  was  translated  from  Ossory ; 
but  his  public  services,  his  eminent  virtues,  and  great  learning,  are  attested  with  an 
honourable  gratitude  by  the  erection  here  of  a  cenotaph,  bearing  a  feelingly-written 
inscription  to  his  memory.  He  not  only  caused  those  permanent  repairs  which  a 
continuation  of  existence  demanded,  but  exercised  a  vigilance  in  the  detection  of 
every  fragment  of  antiquity  in  the  cathedral  that  had  escaped  the  ravages  of  time 
or  barbarity.  The  eastern  window  was  formerly  adorned  with  stained  glass  of  so 
much  beauty,  that  Rimmini,  a  nuncio  of  the  pope,  offered  £700  for  it  to  Bishop 
Roth  and  the  chapter,  which  they,  valuing  their  honour  above  gold,  very  properly 
refused.  During  Cromwell's  usurpation  his  fanatic  followers  broke  in  the  window, 
allowing  but  few  fragments  to  elude  their  sacrilegious  hands :  these  Dr.  Pococke 
gathered,  and  caused  them  to  be  inserted  in  the  window  above  the  western  door." 

There  are  one  or  two  other  very  fine  remains  of  architecture  at  Kilkenny,  St. 
John's  and  the  Black  Abbey  being  in  a  very  picturesque  stage  of  decay.  The 
former  was  called  the  Lantern  of  Ireland  from  the  great  number  of  its  windows. 
It  is  now  used  as  a  parish  church,  somewhat  to  the  detriment  of  its  beauty.  Kilkenny 
is  a  famous  town  for  many  reasons — one  of  which,  and  it  will  be  no  light  honour,  is 
its  having  been  the  birthplace  of  Banim,  one  of  the  first  of  the  novelists.  It  is 
also  famous,  however,  as  the  scene  of  the  persecutions  for  witchcraft,  which  found 
a  parallel  in  the  horrors  enacted  at  Salem  in  Massachusetts.  "  The  Lady  Alice 
Kettell,"  says  one  writer,  "  was  summoned,  in  or  about  1325,  before  the  bishop,  to 
answer  the  charge  of  practising  magic,  sorcery,  and  witchcraft.  She  and  her  accom- 
plices, Petronilla  and  Basilia,  were  accused  of  holding  nightly  conferences  with  an 
imp  or  evil  spirit,  called  Robin  Artisson,  to  whom,  in  order  to  make  the  infernal 
thing  obedient  to  all  their  commands,  they  sacrificed  nine  red  cocks  in  the  middle 
of  the  highway,  and  offered  up  the  eyes  of  nine  peacocks.  The  Lady  Alice,  by 
means  of  this  imp  and  his  associates,  caused  every  night  the  streets  of  Kilkenny  to 


156  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

be  swept  between  the  hour  of  complin-prayer  and  daybreak.  And  for  what  did 
she  do  this  ?  To  sweeten  the  town  and  make  it  agreeable  ?  no  such  thing.  Witches 
are  not  so  benevolently  inclined ;  but  it  was  for  the  good  of  her  greedy  son  that  she 
did  it,  one  William  Utlan,  a  great  land-pirate,  an  avarus  Agricola,  a  fellow  who 
monopolized  all  the  town-parks,  and  grasped  at  great  possessions.  So  the  cunning 
mother  had  all  the  filth  of  the  city  raked  to  her  son's  door,  to  help  him  to  manure 
his  meadows ;  and  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  ventured  to  go  out  at  night,  heard 
unearthly  brooms  plying  over  the  causeway,  and  fearful-looking  scavengers  were  at 
their  dirty  work,  who  scouring  away  to  slow  chorus,  chanted  as  follows : 

'  To  the  house  of  William,  my  son, 
Hie  all  the  wealth  of  Kilkenny  town.' 

But  this  was  not  all :  the  Lady  Alice  beat  even  Captain  Freney  the  robber,  and 
all  his  Kellymount  gang,  in  riding  amid  the  darkness  of  night.  No  sooner 
were  the  nine  peacocks'  eyes  thrown  into  the  fire,  than  up  rose  Robin  the  imp,  and 
presented  his  potent  mistress  with  a  pot  of  ointment,  with  which  she  oiled  her 
broomstick  ;  and  then  mounting  as  gay  as  Meg  Merrilies  the  Scotch  hag,  and 
having  along  with  her  Petronilla  and  Basilia,  her  dear  friends,  she  performed  a 
night's  journey  in  a  minute,  and  used  to  hold  a  Sabbat  with  other  enchanters  on 
the  Devil's  Bit,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary. 

"  This  business  made  a  ojeat  noise  at  the  time.  The  Lady  Alice  Kettell,  having 
powerful  friends,  escaped  to  foreign  parts  :  her  accomplice  Petronilla  was  burned 
at  the  Cross  of  Kilkenny.  William  Utlan  suffered  a  long  imprisonment.  On 
searching  the  Lady  Alice's  closet  (as  Hollingshed  relates)  they  found  a  sacramental 
wafer,  having  Satan's  name  stamped  thereon,  and  a  pipe  of  ointment,  with  which 
she  greased  her  staff,  when  she  would  amble  and  gallop  through  thick  and  thin, 
through  fair  weather  and  foul,  as  she  listed." 

To  this  account  Mr.  Crofton  Croker  replied  by  the  following  interesting  letter, 
published  in  the  Dublin  Journal. 

"  The  persecution  of  the  Lady  Alice  Kettell,  at  Kilkenny,  for  witchcraft,  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  earliest  upon  record.  The  Bishop  of  Ossory  is  stated  to  have 
been  her  accuser,  and  to  have  charged  her  and  two  companions  with  various  diabo- 
lical acts ;  among  others,  that  of  holding  a  conference  every  night  with  a  spirit 
called  Robin  Artisson,  to  whom,  as  you  have  related,  they  were  said  to  sacrifice 
nine  red  cocks  and  nine  peacocks'  eyes. 

"  In  this  ecclesiastical  persecution,  the  object  of  which  appears  to  have  been 
to  extort  money  to  cover  the  roof  of  St.  Mark's  Church,  in  Kilkenny,  the  con- 
nexion with  the  fairy  creed  is  obvious  from  the  name  of  the  evil  spirit.  The 
appellation  of  Artisson,  any  Irish  scholar  will  at  once  perceive  has  had  its  origin  in 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  157 

the  sacrifice  said  to  be  nightly  offered  up,  as  the  translation  of  it  is  chicken-flesh ; 
and  with  respect  to  the  name  of  Robin,  I  cannot  help  thinking,  when  Sir  Walter 
Scott  tells  us  that  '  by  some  inversion  and  alteration  of  pronunciation'  the  English 
word  goblin  and  the  Scottish  bogle  come  from  the  same  root  as  the  German  kobold, 
he  might  as  well  have  added  poor  Robin,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  good-fellowship,  as 
Robin's  punning  namesake,  Thomas  Hood,  would  have  said. 

"  That  Robin,  however,  was  the  popular  name  for  a  fairy  of  much  repute  is  suffi- 
ciently well  known ;  but  since  the  mention  of  his  name  has  accidentally  occurred 
with  that  of  Hood,  I  may  be  allowed  to  observe,  that  the  title  assumed  by,  or 
applied  to  the  famous  outlaw,  was  no  other  than  one  which  had  been  appro- 
priated to  a  denizen  of  fairy  land  ;  Hudikin  or  Hodekin,  that  is  '  little  hood,' 
or  'cowl,'  being  a  Dutch  or  German  spirit,  so  called  from  the  most  remarkable  part 
of  his  dress,  in  which  also  the  Norwegian  Nis  and  Spanish  Duende  were  believed 
to  appear, 

'  Un  cucurucho  tamano,' 

to  use  the  words  of  Calderon.  There  is  in  Oxford-street  a  well-known  coach-office, 
distinguished  by  the  sign  of  '  the  Green  Man  and  Still,'  but  why  so  called  I  have 
never  had  satisfactorily  explained  by  the  curious  in  such  matters.  The  derivation 
of  the  Bull  and  Mouth,  the  Belle  Sauvage,  the  Talbot,  (old  Chaucer's  Tabart,)  and 
many  other  signs,  which  may  be  quoted  in  proof  of  the  mutability  of  things,  are 
familiar  to  all,  yet  the  origin  of  the  aforesaid  Green  Man  and  Still  remains  involved  in 
the  most  mysterious  obscurity.  I  have,  however,  always  been  inclined  to  consider  it 
as  remotely  derived  from  Robin  Hood  ;  and  leaving  fancy  to  fill  up  the  chasm,  have 
found  myself  willing  to  translate  it  as  '  the  forester  and  fairy,'  or  the  green  or 
woodman,  and  the  still  folk  or  silent  people,  as  the  supernatural  beings  we  call 
fairies  were  not  unusually  termed ;  '  das  still  Volk1  being  the  common  German  ex- 
pression. 

"  This  long  digression,  like  the  treacherous  Friar  Rush,  might  readily  lead  me 
on  from  'the  merry  green  wood,'  until  I  became  bewildered  in  the  mazes  of  conjec- 
ture. Allow  me,  therefore,  to  return  to  Kilkenny,  the  scene  of  Alice  Kettell's 
conjurations.  That  town  appears  to  have  been  peculiarly  fatal  to  witches.  Sir 
Richard  Cox,  in  his  History  of  Ireland,  mentions  the  visit  of  Sir  William  Drury, 
the  Lord  Deputy,  to  it,  in  October  1578,  who  caused  thirty-six  criminals  to  be 
executed  there,  '  one  of  which  was  a  blackamoor,  and  two  others  were  witches, 
and  were  condemned  by  the  law  of  nature,  for  there  was  no  positive  law  against 
witchcraft  in  these  days.'  From  that  it  would  appear  that  the  statute  of  the  33rd 
of  Henry  VIII.  against  witchcraft  had  either  become  a  dead  letter,  or  had  not  been 
enacted  in  Ireland. 

VOL.  i.  8  s 


158  SCENERY    OP    IRELAND. 

"  Ireland  has  been,  in  my  opinion,  unjustly  stigmatized  as  a  barbarous  and 
superstitious  country.  It  is  certain  that  the  cruel  persecution  carried  on  against 
poor  and  ignorant  old  women  was  as  nothing  in  Ireland  when  compared  with  other 
countries.  In  addition  to  the  three  executions  at  Kilkenny,  a  town  the  inhabitants 
of  which  were  almost  entirely  either  English  settlers  or  of  English  descent,  I 
only  remember  to  have  met  with  an  account  of  one  other  execution  for  the  crime 
of  witchcraft.  This  latter  took  place  at  Antrim,  in  1699,  and  it  is,  I  believe,  the 
last  on  record.  The  particulars  of  this  silly  tragedy  were  printed  in  a  pamphlet, 
entitled  '  The  Bewitching  of  a  Child  in  Ireland,'  and  from  thence  copied  by  Pro- 
fessor Sinclair,  in  his  work  entitled  '  Satan's  Invisible  World  Discovered,'  which  is 
frequently  referred  to  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  his  Letters  on  Denionology." 

On  the  same  river,  "  the  stubborn  Nore,"  as  Spenser  calls  it,  stands  JERPOINT 
ABBEY,  founded  by  Donogh  M'Gilla-Patrick,  Prince  of  Ossory.  In  wealth,  honours, 
and  architectural  splendours,  Jerpoint  was  exceeded  by  no  monastic  institution  in 
Ireland.  The  demesne  lands  extended  over  fifteen  hundred  acres  of  fertile  ground, 
and  the  buildings  included  the  abbey-church  and  tower,  a  refectory,  dormitory,  and 
offices,  that  occupied  an  area  of  three  acres.  The  whole  of  this  property,  bequeathed 
for  objects  purely  sacred,  was  granted  at  the  dissolution  to  Thomas  Butler,  tenth 
Earl  of  Ormonde,  at  an  annual  rent  of  £49  3s.  9d. 

"  The  style  of  architecture  combines  the  Anglo-Norman  and  early  English ;  and 
those  parts  that  survive,  and  are  approachable,  display  a  beauty  and  perfection  not 
inferior  to  anything  of  coeval  structure  in  the  kingdom ;  but  from  neglect  and 
barbarity,  this  most  splendid  ruin  is  so  injured  and  polluted,  that  the  proportions  of 
its  vast  choir  and  wide-spread  arches,  the  shattered  frames  of  the  richly  traced 
windows,  with  the  mouldering  fragments  of  sepulchral  monuments,  scattered  over  a 
surface  of  mire  and  filth,  prohibit  ingress  or  inspection.  Exterior  vestiges  still 
appear  of  those  buildings  within  whose  shade  the  monks,  on  days  of  high  solem- 
nity, passed  in  their  customary  processions ;  but  now  they  lie  in  masses  of  detached 
ruin,  covered  over  with  earth  and  grass,  and  distinguishable  only  by  the  eminence 
they  form. 

"  The  tomb  of  the  founder  is  placed  opposite  the  high  altar  in  the  south  aisle, 
and  adorned  with  the  recumbent  effigies  of  a  male  and  female  in  antique  costumes. 
The  male  is  represented  holding  a  crucifix  in  his  right  hand,  which  rests  upon  his 
breast,  while  the  left  points  to  a  harp  hanging  at  his  side.  A  full-length  figure  of 
an  abbot,  in  his  proper  robes,  reclines  upon  the  marble  torus  of  another  tomb :  in 
his  left  hand  appears  a  crozier,  in  the  volute  of  which  an  Agnus  Dei  is  sculptured. 
Other  monuments  of  exquisite  workmanship  present  a  melancholy  disregard  of 
proper  feeling,  and  a  wanton  profaneness,  by  their  shattered  fronts  and  spoliated 
appearance ;  and  the  inscriptions  of  all  are  nearly  effaced. 


'.' 


-:otn 


glish  descent,  I 

:ou  tor  the  cnuii1 

I   F>f!ieve  4he 


;ISM>-,  of  detached 
•>'v  uv  the  eminence 

u   in  the  south  aisle, 

in  'antique  costumes. 

which  ,re4ts  upon  his 


Dei  is  8<;ulp 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  ]59 

"  The  monument  of  Dullany  lies  obscured  in  the  ruinous  confusion  and  heaps  of 
decay.  He  died  in  the  year  1202,  was  interred  on  the  north  side  of  the  high  altar, 
and  many  miracles  are  said  to  have  been  wrought  at  his  tomb. 

"  The  following  stanzas,"  says  Wright,  from  whom  I  get  the  information  relative 
to  this  abbey,  "  feelingly  and  faithfully  describe  the  beauties  that  linger  round  this 
decaying  pile : 

'  I  gaze  where  Jerpoint's  venerable  pile, 

Majestic  in  its  ruins,  o'er  me  lowers  ; 
The  worm  now  crawls  through  each  untrodden  aisle, 

And  the  bat  hides  within  its  time-worn  towers. 
It  was  not  thus  when,  in  the  olden  time, 

The  lowly  inmates  of  yon  broken  wall 
Lived  free  from  woes  that  spring  from  care  or  crime, 

Those  shackles  which  the  grosser  world  enthrall. 
Then,  while  the  setting  sunbeams  glistened  o'er 

The  earth,  arose  to  heaven  the  vesper  song ; 
But  now  the  sacred  sound  is  heard  no  more, 

No  music  floats  the  dreary  aisles  along : 
Ne'er  from  its  chancel  soars  the  midnight  prayer; 

The  stillness  broken  by  no  earthly  thing, 
Save  when  the  night-bird  wakes  the  echoes  there, 

Or  the  bat  flutters  its  unfeather'd  wing.' 

"  The  following  stanzas  allude  to  the  involuntary  resignation  of  the  abbey  and 
its  vast  domans  by  Oliver  Grace  Fitz-Oliver,  of  the  Courtstown  family,  the  last 
Abbot  of  Jerpoint,  in  the  year  1530  : 

'  Nor  let  thy  last  lord,  Jerpoint,  be  forgot, 

Whose  sorrows  teach  a  lesson  man  should  learn, 
But  fancy  leads  me  to  the  very  spot 

From  whence  he  parted,  never  to  return. 
I  mark  the  venerable  abbot  stand 

Beneath  the  shadow  of  his  church's  towers, 
Grasping  the  wicket  in  his  trembling  hand, 

Reverting  to  past  scenes  of  happier  hours, 
And  dwelling  on  the  many  years  gone  by, 

Since  first  his  young  lips  breath'd  his  earliest  prayer, 
To  lisp  of  Him  who  lives  beyond  the  sky, 

And  nurse  the  hope  he  might  behold  Him  there. 
And  now  he  gazes  ere  his  steps  depart, 

While  earthly  feelings  wake  that  long  had  slept ; 
Then  with  a  look  that  spoke  a  breaking  heart, 

He  turned  him  from  his  hallowed  home  and  wept.' 

Lines  written  at  Jerpoint  Abbey,  published  in  the  Memairs 
of  the  Family  of  Grace." 


160  SCENERY   OF    IRELAND. 


XVII. 

I  ENTERED  WATERFORD  over  another  of  my  countryman's  wooden  bridges,  consi- 
dered, like  those  built  by  the  same  man  at  Deny,  Portumna,  and  Ross,  rather  as 
curiosities.  The  Guide-book  says  the  bridge  is  eight  hundred  and  thirty-two  feet 
in  length,  and  was  built  "  by  Mr.  Samuel  Cox  of  America."  They  might  as  well 
say,  the  road  was  invented  by  Mr.  M'Adam  of  the  eastern  hemisphere.  It  was 
evening  when  I  arrived,  and  the  broad  quay,  lined  with  lamps,  and  the  reflection  of 
lights  on  the  river,  with  the  vague  outline  of  tall  buildings  on  one  side  only  of  the 
street,  struck  me  as  giving  promise  of  a  very  fine  city.  Though  my  morning  walk 
rather  disappointed  me,  the  quay  is  certainly  a  very  spacious  and  well-constructed 
one,  nearly  a  mile  in  length,  and  devoted  partly  to  a  promenade  between  the  street 
and  the  river.  After  rambling  about  in  vain  to  find  anything  in  the  other  parts  of 
the  town  to  interest  me,  I  called  a  car-driver,  and  asked  if  his  horse  was  able  to 
draw  me  to  the  top  of  the  hill  opposite  the  town.  I  had  made  my  bargain  and 
mounted  the  car,  when  the  man  turned  to  me  before  starting,  and  asked  if  I  knew 
the  toll  over  the  bridge  would  be  a  shilling.  Satisfied  that  I  was  willing  to  stick  to 
my  bargain  with  this  additional  expense,  he  whipped  up,  and  began  to  chat  away 
most  merrily.  I  was  pleased  with  the  considerateness  as  well  as  the  gaiety  of  my 
Jehu,  and  we  were  soon  on  excellent  terms.  No  Yankee  was  ever  more  inquisitive, 
however;  and  after  discovering  by  direct  questions  that  I  was  not  from  Cork,  nor 
Kilkenny,  nor  Dublin,  but  all  the  way  from  America,  Pat  said,  "  Then  it's  yer 
honour  has  a  white  skin  and  spakes  like  an  Irishman,  and  looks  intirely  in  the  face 
like  Mr.  Power  O'Shay,  first-cousin  to  the  mimber."  After  this  compliment  Pat 
could  scarce  do  enough  for  me.  He  stopped  several  gentlemen  on  the  road,  some- 
what to  my  annoyance,  to  ask  where  was  the  view,  and  to  tell  them  I  was  come  all 
the  way  from  America  to  see  WatfAerford,  and  couldn't  "  for  ould  Pope's  big  wall," 
which  wall,  by  the  way,  he  helped  me  over,  by  allowing  me  to  step  from  the  car  to 
his  shoulders,  climbing  up  after  me,  that  I  might  make  a  ladder  of  him  also  from 
the  other  side. 

The  view  from  the  top  of  the  hill  quite  repaid  me  for  my  trespass.  Waterford 
is  beautiful  from  this  distance,  and  the  banks  of  the  Suir  above  and  below  the  long 
bridge,  are  very  bold  and  striking.  The  broad  bosom  of  the  river  was  covered  with 
large  vessels,  steamers,  and  small  sailing-craft ;  the  quay  was  thronged  with  pedes- 
trians and  vehicles,  the  sun  shone  brightly,  and  the  scene  altogether,  with  its  back- 
ground of  fine  hills,  was  beautiful.  There  is  said  to  be  from  twenty  to  sixty-five 
feet  of  water  in  the  Suir  at  low  tide,  and  vessels  of  eight  hundred  tons  may  come 


H 

6, 


up  <:los(-  to  the  quay 
debarcatioa  ofr  <-3vi!i 


uig  :  it.-1  gard«n»,  lavm;.  Ki;     l> •.'•  '• 

towers  und  ii*  •(.  .i.V:i'r.  hmbil^Wpif .  •• 

url  «*«,.  «.•>  lfl.»r- 

T  1 


VOL.  I. 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  161 

up  close  to  the  quay,  a  circumstance  which  has  been  found  very  favourable  for  the 
debarcation  of  cavalry  and  military  stores.  Waterford  has  always,  from  this  and 
other  reasons,  been  an  important  port  of  Ireland.  Its  ancient  name  was  Cuan-na- 
Frioth,  or  Haven  of  the  Sun.  It  was  aftewards  called  Gleann-na-Gleodh,  or  Valley 
of  Lamentation,  from  the  tremendous  conflicts  between  the  Irish  and  the  Danes. 
By  old  Irish  authors,  it  is  frequently  named,  from  its  shape,  the  Port  of  the  T/tiqfi. 
Its  historical  record  states  that  it  was  founded  in  155,  but  made  a  considerable 
town  under  Sitric  in  853.  It  was  still  inhabited  by  the  Danes  in  1171,  the  time  of 
King  Henry's  invasion.  There  are  other  historical  events  connected  with  King 
John,  Richard  II.,  (who  remained  nine  months  at  Waterford  to  assuage  his  grief  for 
the  death  of  Queen  Anne,)  the  Desmonds,  &c.  &c.  Its  great  feature  to  antiquarians, 
however,  is  REGINALD'S  TOWER,  a  fine  old  remnant  of  Danish  architecture,  stand- 
ing near  the  lower  end  of  the  quay.  It  was  built  by  Reginald,  son  of  Imar,  in 
1003.  In  1171  it  was  held  as  a  fortress  by  Strongbow ;  in  1463  a  mart  was  esta- 
blished in  it;  and  in  1819  it  was  partly  rebuilt  in  its  original  form,  and  appropriated 
to  the  police  establishment.  Besides  these  various  uses,  it  has  been  used  as  a 
prison.  After  the  successful  storming  of  the  town  by  the  English  forces  of  Strong- 
bow,  led  on  by  the  redoubtable  Raymond  le  Gros,  in  1171,  when  the  city  was 
plundered,  and  all  the  inhabitants  found  in  arms  were  put  to  the  sword,  Reginald, 
Prince  of  the  Danes,  and  Malachy  O'Faelan,  Prince  of  the  Decies,  with  several 
other  chiefs  who  had  confederated  to  resist  the  invaders,  were  imprisoned  here  after 
they  were  condemned  to  death.  They  were  saved,  however,  by  the  intercession  of 
Derniot  MacMurrogh,  who,  with  many  other  Welsh  and  English  gentlemen,  came 
to  Waterford  to  be  present  at  the  marriage  of  Earl  Strongbow  with  Eva,  the  King 
of  Leinster's  daughter. 

I  walked  back  over  my  fellow-townsman's  "  bridge  of  American  oak,"  enjoying 
very  much  the  beauty  of  the  banks  of  the  river  on  the  side  opposite  the  town :  with 
the  exception  of  the  banks  of  the  Suir,  however,  the  neighbourhood  of  Waterford 
looked  bleak  and  uninviting.  The  hotel  was  but  indifferent,  and  I  was  not  sorry  to 
curtail  my  stay  somewhat,  and  hurry  on  by  the  first  conveyance  towards  Lismore. 

The  views  of  LISMORE  CASTLE,  which  have  been  taken  always  from  the  most  favour- 
able points,  prepare  a  disappointment  for  the  traveller  who  chances  to  approach  it 
first  from  the  side  toward  the  town,  the  insignificant  buildings  of  which  shoulder  it 
rather  too  closely.  From  all  other  points,  however,  it  is  a  most  striking  and  noble 
object,  and  justifies  its  reputation  as  one  of  the  first  of  the  noble  residences  and 
demesnes  of  Ireland.  Its  position,  overhanging  the  Blackwater,  is  very  command- 
ing ;  its  gardens,  lawns,  and  walks  are  laid  out  with  exquisite  taste ;  its  antique 
towers  and  its  modern  habitableness  are  beautifully  harmonised  ;  indeed,  it  is  a  spot 
which  one's  heart  aches  to  leave— capable,  to  the  imagination  at  least,  of  all  that  a 

T   T 

VOL.  I. 


162  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

residence  can  do  for  the  happiness  of  the  most  luxurious.  This  castle  was  the 
property  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  at  whose  death  it  was  forfeited,  and  purchased  by 
the  ancestor  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire.  The  town  of  Lismore  adds  to  this  historic 
interest  the  fact  that  it  was  the  birthplace  of  Boyle  and  Congreve.  "  Lismore 
Castle,"  says  Ritchie,  "  was  founded  on  the  ruins  of  an  abbey  by  King  John,  in  the 
year  1185.  After  being  destroyed  by  the  Irish,  and  undergoing  various  other 
fortunes,  it  was  rebuilt,  and  became  an  episcopal  residence;  till  at  length,  in  1589,  it 
passed  with  the  rest  of  the  manor  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  on  consideration  of  a 
yearly  rent  of  £13.  6s.  8d.,  and  was  afterwards  sold  by  him  to  the  Earl  of  Cork. 
In  1626,  the  famous  Robert  Boyle  was  born  within  its  walls.  In  the  rebellion  of 
1641,  it  withstood  successfully  a  siege  by  five  thousand  Irish,  under  Sir  Richard 
Beling.  On  this  occasion  it  was  defended  by  Lord  Broghill,  the  earl's  third  son, 
whose  letter  to  his  father  is  well  known,  but  still  worth  reprinting  here. 

"  '  I  have  sent  out  my  quarter-master  to  know  the  posture  of  the  enemy  ;  they 
were,  as  I  am  informed  by  those  who  were  in  the  action,  five  thousand  strong,  and 
well  armed,  and  that  they  intend  to  attack  Lismore.  When  I  have  received  cer- 
tain intelligence,  if  I  am  a  third  part  of  their  number  I  will  meet  them  to-morrow 
morning,  and  give  them  one  blow  before  they  besiege  us ;  if  their  number  be  such 
that  it  will  be  more  folly  than  valour,  I  will  make  good  this  place  which  I  am  in. 

"  '  I  tried  one  of  the  ordnances  made  at  the  forge,  and  it  held  with  a  pound 
charge  ;  so  that  I  will  plant  it  upon  the  terrace  over  the  river.  My  lord,  fear 
nothing  for  Lismore  ;  for  if  it  be  lost,  it  shall  be  with  the  life  of  him  who  begs 
your  lordship's  blessing,  and  styles  himself  your  lordship's  most  humble,  most 
obliged,  and  most  dutiful  son  and  servant, 

"  '  BROGHILL.' 

"  Two  years  after,  the  castle  was  attacked  again  by  a  still  greater  fore,  and  again 
remained  triumphant;  but  in  1645,  it  was  at  length  taken  by  Lord  Castlehaven. 
The  defenders  on  this  occasion  were  Major  Power,  and  a  hundred  of  the  earl's 
tenants,  who  are  said  to  have  been  allowed  honourable  terms  of  capitulation,  after 
expending  all  their  powder,  and  killing  five  hundred  of  the  enemy.  This  sounds 
like  one  of  Napoleon's  bulletins. 

"  From  the  Boyle  family,  Lismore  passed  into  that  of  Cavendish,  in  1748,  by  the 
marriage  of  Lady  Charlotte  Boyle,  daughter  of  the  fourth  Earl  of  Cork,  to  the 
fourth  Duke  of  Devonshire.  The  present  Duke  has  done  much  to  improve  and 
beautify  the  place,  but  what  is  of  still  more  consequence,  he  is  said  to  be  the  best 
of  the  very  few  good  landlords  in  Ireland. 

"  This  fortress  covered,  originally,  a  considerable  space  of  ground,  as  may  be 


the  wo*'  I'lf-n-xi*,     Thia  castle  was  the 

tV-    :<>.'. 

•180:  wf  h-v.  :£i-eve.      "  Lismore 

•?  >  King  John,  in  the 

•'1-4   various  other 

;  -.»  -.-,•»'  ""    -»  -"^th,  in  1589,  it 

•ii-rntion  of  a 

»*rl  of  Cork. 

'•"'lion  of 


pound 


;*'•••  r  fore,  and  again 
i,or(\  Castlchaven. 
vlred  of  the  earl's 
I  capitulation,  after 
smy.  This  sounds 

,rl  of  C^jrk,  to  the 
and 


Y 
•X 


^ 


f 


banks  air  ty^i   - 

iLs  whole  kct'i.-!.  ixrtiaj     »»  y.i>..; 

world      In  th«  -:''v-  fl1     r-  '  •'   ^ 

one  of  the  best  oJ  iW  th  -u»fck'   "i)r,-r  -Th'*  sp,.< 

too,  ha»  an  historic  tntt-iest  «f  »-very  f.  i>»«*t--v-.-.    n^mp  been  one  o) 

the  residences  of  the  pov»«-fid  Lord*  ...I  D.  'a  embodiet!  n- 

small  portion  of  the  poetry  ol  Iriih  hitler 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  163 

seen  by  the  walls  and  towers  still  remaining.  Between  the  boundaries,  however, 
and  the  castle,  there  is  now  one  of  the  most  charming  promenades  in  the  world ;  a 
little  paradise  of  walks,  and  plants,  and  trees.  The  path  leads  in  some  places  to 
the  very  brink  of  the  precipice  which  overhangs  the  Blackwater ;  whence  a  view  is 
commanded  of  the  deep  vale  below,  and  the  eye  carried  along  numerous  vistas 
opening  among  the  mountains  beyond.  I  left  the  path,  scrambled  for  some  distance 
along  the  precipice,  and  returned  another  way,  my  mind  filled  with  more  pictures, 
each  altogether  distinct  from  the  rest,  than  a  week's  walk  could  have  procured  me 
almost  anywhere  else. 

"  The  principal  buildings  of  the  castle  surround  a  large  square,  and  are  furnished 
with  modern  doors  and  windows,  with  more  attention  to  comfort  than  to  good  taste. 
The  square,  notwithstanding,  has  a  gloomy  appearance.  I  passed  in  unquestioned. 
Not  a  human  being  was  visible,  and  even  the  sound  of  the  wind  among  the  trees 
was  no  more  when  I  entered  the  deserted  area.  At  that  moment  there  stepped 
gravely  up  to  me  a  large  eagle ;  and  I  could  not  help  starting  back  and  eyeing  him 
respectfully,  as  '  one  having  authority.'  He  contented  himself,  however,  with  an 
attentive  examination  of  my  appearance,  and  I  strolled  on. 

"  In  the  interior  of  the  house,  there  are  none  of  the  incongruities  observablf 
outside :  all  is  substantially  elegant.  In  these  luxurious  days,  however,  one  fine 
suite  of  rooms  resembles  so  closely  another,  that  there  is  no  telling  the  difference  ; 
yet  at  Lismore,  I  must  say,  there  is  some  tapestry,  and  some  splendid  doors  of  Irish 
oak.  But  the  most  striking  thing  is,  the  view  from  the  windows,  a  fact  which  was 
felt  before  me  by  no  less  a  personage  than  James  II.  This  king-errant  entered  the 
castle,  like  myself,  from  even  ground  ;  and  going  up  to  one  of  the  windows  in  the 
great  room,  still  called  King  James's  window,  started  back  aghast  on  finding  him- 
self perched  at  a  vast  height  over  a  dark  and  rapid  river. 

"  The  little  town  of  Lismore  was  formerly  a  city,  distinguished  for  its  learning 
and  the  number  of  its  religious  edifices.  The  present  cathedral  is  a  very  handsome 
church,  rebuilt  a  few  years  ago  on  the  site  of  the  old,  and  as  much  as  possible  in 
its  character.  Of  the  town  itself,  all  I  can  say  is,  that  it  is  reasonably  clean,  and 
that  the  inhabitants  have  an  appearance  of  more  than  ordinary  comfort.' 

The  Blackwater,  even  in  this  country  of  lovely  rivers,  is  eminently  Icvely.  Its 
banks  are  bold,  verdant,  graceful,  and  gemmed  with  beautiful  structures,  offering,  in 
its  whole  length,  perhaps  as  great  a  variety  of  enjoyable  scenery  as  any  river  in  the 
world.  In  the  view  taken  for  this  work  of  THE  BLACKWATER  BELOW  DROMANA, 
one  of  the  best  of  its  thousand  bright  spots  is  presented  to  the  reader.  This  spot, 
too,  has  an  historic  interest  of  a  very  high  character,  Dromana  having  been  one  of 
the  residences  of  the  powerful  Lords  of  Desmond,  in  whose  lives  is  embodied  no 
small  portion  of  the  poetry  of  Irish  history.  "  With  possessions  of  nearly  four 


164 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 


counties,"  says  Croker,  "  the  Earls  of  Desmond,  when  actuated  by  private  motives, 
were  enabled  to  take  the  field  with  an  armed  force  so  considerable  as  to  excite  just 
apprehensions  in  those  who  had  the  government  of  an  imperfectly  subdued  country. 
But  the  history  of  Gerald,  the  sixteenth  earl,  who  had  been  called  '  Ingen's  rebel- 
lious exemplar,'  is  briefly  given  in  Baker's  Chronicle,  and  with  so  much  affecting 
simplicity,  that  I  am  induced  to  transcribe  the  words. 

"  '  Desmond  possessed  whole  counties,  together  with  the  County  Palatine  of 
Kerry,  and  had,  of  his  own  name  and  race,  at  least  five  hundred  gentlemen  at  his 
command,  all  whom,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  lost  within  the  space  of  three  years, 
very  few  of  the  house  being  left  alive.' 

"  If,  on  the  one  side,  it  was  necessary  for  tne  wellbeing  of  the  country  to  sup- 
press such  desolating  feuds  in  a  question  of  individual  property  as  that  at  Affane, 
(noticed  in  a  subsequent  paper,)  and  to  prevent  the  oppressive  and  cruel  extortion 
established  by  an  Earl  of  Desmond  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  called  coigne  and 
livery,  or  the  power  of  levying  indiscriminately  and  at  will  whatever  victuals,  pro- 
vender, and  money  his  necessities  required  ;  so,  on  the  other,  the  Earl  of  Desmond 
seems  to  have  been  driven  into  rebellion  by  the  unrelenting  policy  of  those  who  had 
the  direction  of  public  affairs.  And  it  is  to  be  feared  there  is  too  much  truth  in 
Dr.  Curry's  opinion,  that  '  his  vast  estate  was  a  strong  inducement  to  the  chief 
governors  of  Ireland  to  make  or  to  proclaim  him  a  rebel,  their  prey  being  insured 
to  them  in  either  case  by  his  forfeiture.' 

"  As  securities  for  her  husband's  conduct  and  pledges  of  his  innocence,  their 
only  son,  an  infant,  together  with  O'Healy,  Bishop  of  Mayo,  and  O'Rourke,  a 
Franciscan  friar  of  noble  descent,  were  presented  to  Sir  William  Drury  by  the 
Countess  of  Desmond ;  but  the  earl,  though  with  expressions  of  loyalty,  declining 
to  comply  with  the  summons  of  Sir  William  Pelham,  (the  successor  to  Drury  as 
lord-justice,)  and  hesitating  in  obeying  the  unnatural  command  to  bear  arms  against 
his  brother,  who  had  been  declared  a  traitor,  was  also  proclaimed  one  himself  on 
the  2d  of  November,  1579,  if  he  did  not  surrender  within  twenty  days. 

"  Desmond  naturally  doubted  the  faith  of  those  who  had  already  deceived  him, 
by  whom  his  property  had  been  injured,  his  complaints  neglected,  and  his  grievances 
unredressed.  When  he  complied  with  the  summons  of  Drury  to  appear  at  Kilmal- 
lock,  whither  he  came  '  with  a  well-appointed  company  of  horse  and  foot,  he  was 
committed  to  custody,'  says  Leland,  '  on  bare  suspicion  ;  but  upon  making  the 
most  solemn  promises  of  loyalty  and  fidelity,  he  obtained  his  liberty,  retired  from 
the  camp,  but  refused  to  attend  the  deputy,  and  was  therefore  still  considered  as  a 
favourer  of  foreign  invaders  and  their  cause.  Upon  this  bare  suspicion,  (Sir  Nicholas) 
Malby  attacked  his  town  of  Rathkeal.  This  the  earl  considered  as  an  unprovoked 
and  unwarrantable  attempt  which  he  was  justified  in  repelling.' 


8CENEHY    OF    IRELAND.  165 

"  Two  members  of  the  council,  the  Lords  Gormanstown  and  Delvin,  refused  to 
sign  the  proclamation  against  Desmond,  and  one  hour  after  it  was  published,  his 
countess,  we  are  told,  '  came  to  the  camp  to  intercede  for  her  unhappy  lord ;  but 
the  forces  had  marched  towards  her  husband's  country,  which  they  entered  with 
fire  and  sword.' 

"  The  fathers  O'Healy  and  O'Rourke,  who  had  become  sureties  for  Desmond's 
loyalty,  were  executed,  and  his  infant  son  was  sent  a  state  prisoner  to  the  Tower  of 
London.  Even  as  an  additional  goad  to  drive  Desmond  to  desperate  measures,  the 
Earl  of  Orinond,  his  former  rival,  was  named  to  take  the  field  against  him.  So 
violent  was  the  animosity  existing  between  these  two  noblemen,  that  when,  on  a 
former  occasion,  they  had  agreed  to  a  public  reconciliation  under  the  decision  of  a 
special  commission,  an  aperture  was  cut  in  a  door  for  them  to  shake  hands  through, 
'  each  fearing  to  be  poignarded  bv  the  other.' 

"  To  state  Desmond's  case  with  impartiality,  it  is  necessary  to  point  out  that  his 
haughty  and  tyrannic  disposition  made  him  regard  the  acts  of  others  with  suspi- 
cion ;  and  though  of  English  extraction,  in  common  with  most  Irish  chieftains,  he 
knew  not  how  to  demean  himself  as  a  subject,  and  resisted  every  encroachment  on 
his  feudal  dignity.  A  more  dangerous  man,  therefore,  to  any  peaceable  government 
could  not  have  existed — arrogant,  oppressive,  and  ferocious.  Irritated  at  the  severe 
conduct  of  the  English  governors  towards  him,  whom  an  invasion  compelled  to 
adopt  decisive  measures,  the  enraged  earl,  collecting  his  followers  on  the  Ballyhoura 
Mountain,  for  the  first  time  appeared  as  the  avowed  enemy  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
and  proceeded  to  attack  the  town  of  Youghal,  which  he  captured  without  much 
opposition,  and  deposited  the  plunder  in  his  castles  of  Strancally  and  Lisfinneen, 
having  garrisoned  them  with  the  invading  Spanish  troops.  Elated  by  this  success, 
the  earl,  with  a  view  to  intimidate  Sir  William  Pel  ham,  wrote  to  him,  stating 
that  he  had  entered  into  a  league  for  the  defence  of  the  Catholic  religion  with  the 
King  of  Spain,  under  the  sanction  of  the  pope,  and  invited  Sir  William  to  co-operate 
with  them.  Immediately  on  such  a  declaration,  Lord  Ormond  and  Sir  Warham  St. 
Leger  made  a  fierce  attack  on  the  estates  of  Desmond,  destroying  the  tillage, 
burning  and  ruining  his  castles,  and  murdering,  in  cold  blood,  the  foreigners  by 
whom  they  were  garrisoned. 

"  A  series  of  acts  of  devastation  on  the  part  of  the  English,  that  were  vainly 
opposed  by  Desmond,  ensued  for  six  months;  at  the  end  of  which  time  that  nobleman, 
his  countess,  and  Saunders,  the  papal  legate,  escaped  with  their  lives  only  from  the 
royal  troops,  and  Lady  Desmond  once  more  appeared  before  the  lord-justice, 
beseeching  him  in  tears,  on  her  knees,  forgiveness  and  pity  for  her  consort.  But  Sir 
William  Pelham  remained  inexorable;  and  coldly  speaking  of  the  queen's  clemency, 
referred  to  her  majesty's  mercy,  at  the  moment  when  Lord  Desmond's  brother,  Sir 


VOL.  I. 


u  u 


166  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

James,  was  condemned  and  executed  by  martial  law,  and  his  reeking  limbs  exposed 
to  the  public  gaze  on  the  gates  of  Cork. 

"  A  mutiny  amongst  the  English  army  was  suppressed,  by  openly  giving  up 
Desmond  s  country  to  plunder  instead  of  their  pay  ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
population,  to  escape  the  revolting  cruelties  attendant  on  military  exaction,  fled  for 
protection,  and  found  it,  from  the  bravest  and  most  noble  of  enemies, — a  British 
seaman,— Sir  William  Winter,  the  vice-admiral  of  England,  who  was  stationed  oft' 
the  coast  of  Kerry  to  intercept  reinforcements  from  Spain,  receiving  many  of  the 
despairing  fugitives  on  board  his  squadron. 

"  During  this  time,  the  garrison  of  Kilmallock  kept  the  adherents  and  forces  of 
Desmond  in  check,  so  as  to  prevent  their  forming  an  union  with  the  disaffected  of 
the  northern  provinces,  particularly  with  Lord  Baltinglass,  notwithstanding  an 
effort  made  by  Sir  John  of  Desmond  and  Dr.  Saunders,  in  which  their  attendants 
were  made  prisoners ;  and  shortly  after,  Captain  Zouch,  the  companion  in  arms  of 
Raleigh,  surprised,  near  Castle  Lyons,  Sir  John,  with  his  relative  James  Fitz-John, 
of  Strancally,  both  of  whom  were  executed,  and  their  mangled  remains  displayed 
in  barbarous  triumph. 

"  Pursued  from  one  retreat  to  another,  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  after  many  ineffec- 
tual efforts  at  reprisal  and  several  narrow  escapes,  was  forced  '  to  keep  his  Christ- 
mas (1582)  in  Kilquesi'g  Wood,  near  Kilmallock, '  where  being  attacked,  his 
followers  were  all  put  to  the  sword,  and  he  and  his  countess  escaped  by  remaining 
concealed  under  a  bank  of  the  river  up  to  their  chins  in  water.  About  the  middle 
of  the  following  year,  Desmond's  chief  force,  consisting  only  of  sixty  gallowglasses, 
was  surprised  in  the  act  of  boiling  horseflesh,  and  half  of  them  slain,  by  a  party 
from  Kilmalock,  in  Harlow  or  Agherlow  Wood.  On  the  death  of  Dr.  Saunders, 
who  perished  miserably,  having  fallen  a  victim  to  famine  and  the  effects  of  exposure 
to  the  weather,  and  whose  body  was  discovered  partially  devoured  by  wolves,  an 
intimation  was  made  to  Desmond,  that  on  submission  his  individual  pardon  would 
be  granted  ;  but  the  same  unyielding  spirit  that  animated  this  earl  at  Aftane, 
inspired  his  reply:  '  Tell  the  lords-justices,'  said  Desmond,  '  that  I  would  rather 
forsake  my  God  than  forsake  my  men.' 

"  In  September  following,  the  earl,  accompanied  by  three  horsemen  and  a  priest, 
encountered  a  party  of  Lord  Roche's  followers,  from  whom,  being  well  mounted, 
they  escaped,  except  the  priest,  who  gave  a  lamentable  account  of  the  extremes  to 
which  Desmond  was  reduced. 

"  The  last  scene  of  the  earl's  life  is,  however,  the  most  tragical.  His  necessities 
having  compelled  him  to  take  some  cattle  belonging  to  a  poor  woman,  he  was  pur- 
sued by  a  few  musketeers  and  kerns  in  the  English  pay,  who  on  entering  a  little 
grove  in  a  lonely  and  mountainous  glen,  four  miles  east  of  Tralee,  about  midnight, 


SCENERY    OF    IRELAND.  167 

discovered,  seated  round  the  fire  of  a  ruinous  hovel,  four  or  five  of  Desmond's 
known  adherents,  all  of  whom  immediately  fled  on  their  entrance,  leaving  one 
venerable  and  powerless  old  man  :  a  soldier,  named  Daniel  Kelly,  made  a  blow  at 
him  with  his  sword,  and  wounded  him  so  severely  as  almost  to  dissever  his  arm  ; 
repeating  the  blow,  the  old  man  ejaculated,  'Spare  me,  spare  me !  I  am  the  Earl  of 
Desmond.'  But  the  appeal  was  made  in  vain,  for  Kelly  struck  off  his  head  and 
conveyed  it  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  by  whom  it  was  sent  over,  '  pickled  in  a  pip- 
kin,' to  England,  where  it  was  spiked  on  London  Bridge ;  and  his  body,  after  eight 
weeks'  concealment,  obscurely  interred  in  the  little  chapel  of  Killanamana,  in  Kerry. 
For  this  service  Elizabeth's  '  well-beloved  subject  and  soldier,  Daniel  Kelly,'  was 
rewarded  with  a  pension  of  twenty  pounds  yearly,  which  he  enjoyed  for  many  years, 
but  was  ultimately  hanged  at  Tyburn. 

"  The  account  given  by  Spencer  of  the  state  of  Desmond's  country,  who  was  a 
spectator  of  it,  exhibits  a  dreadful  and  impressive  picture  of  the  calamitous  effects 
of  civil  warfare.  He  tells  us,  that  '  any  stony  heart  would  rue  the  same.  Out  of 
every  corner  of  the  woods  and  glynns,  they'  (the  people  of  Munster,)  '  came  creep- 
ing forth  upon  their  hands,  for  their  legs  could  not  bear  them  ;  they  looked  like 
anatomies  of  death.  They  spake  like  ghosts  crying  out  of  their  graves  ;  they  did 
eat  the  dead  carrions,  happy  when  they  could  find  them,  yea,  and  one  another 
soon  after,  insomuch  as  the  very  carcases  they  spared  not  to  scrape  out  of  their 
graves ;  and  if  they  found  a  plot  of  watercresses  or  shamrocks,  there  they  flocked 
as  to  a  feast  for  the  time,  yet  not  able  to  continue  there  withal,' — that  in  short 
space  there  was  none  almost  left,  and  a  most  populous  and  plentiful  country  sud- 
denly became  void  of  man  and  beast.' 

"  In  the  Earl  of  Ormond's  services  against  Desmond,  the  destruction  of  forty- 
six  captains,  eight  hundred  notorious  traitors,  and  four  thousand  common  soldiers 
is  enumerated  ;  yet  a  letter  that  has  been  preserved  in  the  Scrina  Sacra,  from  Des- 
mond to  Lord  Ormond,  is  written  in  that  tone  of  submission  which  renders  it  but 
too  probable  that  vindictive  motives  alone  urged  the  latter  to  refuse  every  overture 
of  Desmond's  to  obtain  mercy. 

"  Neither  the  death  of  Desmond,  nor  the  depopulation  of  the  country,  restored 
tranquillity  to  the  south  of  Ireland  ;  and  Elizabeth,  by  the  advice  of  Sir  Robert 
Cecil,  sent  over  James,  the  only  son  of  the  late  earl,  who  had  been  educated  in  the 
Tower  under  the  eye  of  the  English  government,  in  expectation  that  the  adherents 
of  his  father  would  rally  around  their  young  lord,  and  become  peaceable  subjects. 
This  was  the  more  desirable,  as  a  remaining  member  of  the  family,  termed  in  history 
the  Sugan  Earl,  had  assumed  the  title  of  Desmond,  and  appeared  in  arms  against 
the  queen. 

"  Reared  in  confinement,  inexperienced  in  popular  tumult,  and  ignorant  of  poli- 


168 


SCENERV    OF    IRELAND. 


tical  intrigue,  the  young  Earl  James  arrived  at  Youghal  on  the  14th  of  October, 
1600,  under  the  guardianship  of  Captain  Price,  and  submissively  waited  on  the 
Lord  President  of  Munster,  to  whom  he  delivered  despatches  explanatory  of  the 
purpose  of  his  journey  into  Ireland,  and  his  patent  of  creation  as  Earl  of  Desmond, 
copies  of  which  may  be  found  in  the  Pacata  Hibernia.  The  president  sent  the 
young  earl  to  Kilmallock,  whither  the  news  of  his  coming  had  preceded  him,  and 
the  followers  of  the  Desmond  family  crowded  to  welcome  their  chief,  '  insomuch 
as  all  the  streets,  doores,  and  windowes,  yea  the  very  gutters  and  tops  of  the  houses 
were  filled.'  '  That  night  the  earle  was  invited  to  supper  to  Sir  George  Thornton's, 
who  then  kept  his  house  in  the  town  of  Kilmallock  ;  and  although  the  earl  had  a 
guard  of  soldiers  which  made  a  lane  from  his  lodgings  to  Sir  G.  Thornton's  house, 
yet  the  confluence  of  the  people  that  flockt  thither  to  see  him  was  so  great,  as  in 
half  an  hour  he  could  not  make  his  passage  through  the  crowd  ;  and  after  supper 
he  had  the  like  encounters  at  his  returne  to  his  lodging.'  Old  and  young  hurried  into 
Kilmallock  from  the  surrounding  districts;  the  former  showered  their  blessings  on  the 
earl,  the  latter  offered  their  vow  of  allegiance;  and  according  to  an  ancient  custom, 
every  one  flung  upon  him  wheat  and  salt,  as  a  prediction  of  future  peace  and  plenty, 
so  powerful  was  the  bond  of  feudal  clanship. 

"  James,  the  young  earl,  had  been  brought  up  a  Protestant  in  England,  and  the 
day  following  his  arrival  at  Kilmallock,  being  Sunday,  he  attended  service  in  the 
parish  church.  On  his  Return  his  followers  collected  around  him,  and  with  tears 
and  groans  reproached  him  with  his  apostasy.  They  implored  him  on  their  knees  not 
to  forsake  the  religion  of  his  fathers.  James  meekly  urged,  in  reply  to  their  vehement 
entreaties,  the  plea  of  religious  freedom  to  be  the  true  spirit  of  the  Gospel :  but 
this  reasoning  did  not  satisfy  his  adherents ;  they  looked  on  him  as  an  agent  of  the 
English  government,  sent  amongst  them  to  sap  the  foundation  of  their  faith  ;  and 
the  very  voices  that  yesterday  were  loudest  in  acclamations  of  joy,  swelled  the 
uproar  of  imprecations  poured  upon  James  Fitzgerald  ;  for  they  denied  his  right  to 
the  title  of  his  ancestors,  whose  religion  he  had  renounced.  Every  mark  of  ignominy 
and  insult  was  heaped  upon  him  by  the  infuriated  crowd  :  they  cursed  him, 
they  spat  upon  him  ;  and  abandoning  Kilmallock,  left  the  Earl  of  Desmond  to 
return  to  England,  where  he  died  in  obscurity  a  few  months  after.  His  dis- 
solution is  announced  in  the  Pacata  Hibernia,  with  an  air  of  the  greatest 
sangfroid.  '  The  eleventh  (January,  1601)  the  lord  president  had  intelligence 
from  England  that  James  (the  late  restored  Earle  of  Desmond)  was  dead,  and  that 
eighteen  hundred  quarters  of  oates  were  sent  into  Munster  for  the  reliefe  of  our 
horses.' 

"  The  fate  of  the  Sugan  Earl,  as  he  is  styled,  was  little  more  fortunate  than  that 
of  his  predecessor.  After  one  or  two  defeats,  he  was  hunted  from  place  to  place, 


SCENEHY    OF    IRELAND.  169 

and  so  closely  followed  that  it  was  often  known  to  his  pursuers  where  he  had  been 
concealed  the  preceding  night.*  The  Galtee  mountains  were  the  chief  retreat  of 
the  Sugan  Earl ;  and  his  kinsman,  the  White  Knight,  being  induced  by  money  or 
fear,  perhaps  both,  betrayed  and  seized  him  as  he  lurked  in  the  cave  of  Skeena- 
rinky,  not  far  distant  from  Mitchelstown.  Being  forcibly  carried  to  Kilmallock, 
he  was  thence  conveyed  to  Cork,  where  he  was  tried  and  found  guilty  of  being  a 
traitor,  on  the  14th  of  August,  1601.  But  his  life  was  spared  by  a  piece  of  state 
policy  ;  and  the  earl,  transmitted  to  the  Tower  of  London,  died  there  a  prisoner,  after 
seven  years'  confinement,  and  was  buried  in  its  chapel.  His  brother  John  emi- 
grated to  Spain,  and  was  distinguished  as  Earl  or  Count  of  Desmond,  which  title  was 
also  given  to  his  son,  Gerald,  who  died  in  the  service  of  a  foreign  court,  without 
issue,  about  the  year  1632." 

The  view  of  the  small  town  of  Lismore  from  the  highly  picturesque  bridge,  which 
was  built  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  if  not  the  most  striking,  is  the  most  beautiful 
in  this  district  of  country.  The  Blackwater,  both  above  and  below  the  bridge 
which  leads  into  the  town,  flows  through  one  of  the  most  verdant  of  valleys,  just 
wide  enough  to  show  its  greenness  and  fertility ;  and  diversified  by  noble  single 
trees  and  fine  groups.  The  banks  bounding  this  valley  are  in  some  places  thickly 
covered,  in  other  places  thinly  shaded  with  wood.  Then,  there  is  the  bridge  itself, 
and  the  castle,  grey  and  massive,  with  its  ivy-grown  towers ;  and  the  beautiful  spire 
of  the  church  ;  and  the  deep-wooded  lateral  dells  that  carry  to  the  Blackwater  its 
tributary  streams.  Nothing  can  surpass  in  richness  and  beauty,  the  view  from  the 
bridge,  when  at  evening,  the  deep  woods  and  the  grey  castle,  and  the  still  river,  are 
left  in  shade,  while  the  sun  streaming  up  the  valley  gilds  all  the  softer  slopes  and 
swells  that  lie  opposite. 

There  is,  besides  the  cathedral,  a  large  Roman  Catholic  chapel,  a  small  Presby- 
terian meeting-house,  a  court-house,  and  good  inn,  a  classical  school,  and  schools 
for  poor  children,  endowed  and  supported  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire.  Lismore,  in 
former  asces,  was  a  place  of  great  learning  and  piety ;  it  is  now  reduced  to  a  small 
town,  yet  kept  in  good  repair  by  the  proprietor,  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  whose 
large  venerable  castle,  rising  from  the  wooded  rocks  hanging  over  the  river,  forms 
the  principal  feature  of  the  town. 

Lismore  is  the  best  halting-place  for  those  who  are  anxious  to  see  the  beauties  of 

*  Sir  Richard  Cox,  in  the  narration  of  one  of  his  escapes,  strongly  depicts  the  wretched  state 
of  the  country.  "  The  president  having  notice  that  the  Sugan  Earl  and  Dermod  Magragh, 
titular  Bishop  of  Cork,  were  at  Lisbarry,  in  Drumfinin  Woods,  sent  a  party  thither,  who  were 
so  near  surprising  them,  that  the  Sugan  Earl  was  fain  to  run  away  barefoot ;  and  the  bishop  got 
some  oM  rags  about  him,  and  so  well  personated  an  old  impotent  beggar,  that  the  English  who 
met  him  did  not  think  him  worth  a  hanging,  and  therefore  suffered  him  to  pass." 

VOL.  I.  X  X 


170  SCENERY    OF    IRELAND. 

this  part  of  the  Blackwater  and  the  adjacent  country.  The  river  Mr.  Inglis  de- 
scribes as  equal  to  the  finest,  parts  of  the  descent  of  the  Rhine ;  and  as  boats  can 
always  be  hired,  we  would  advise  tourists  in  fine  weather  to  proceed  by  water. 
Though  from  a  little  below  Lismore,  to  its  embouchure  at  Youghal,  it  is  a  tidal 
river,  wanting  the  constant  current  which  constitutes  one  of  the  charms  of  river 
scenery,  and  presenting  at  ebb-tides,  disagreeable  muddy  sides,  yet  these  draw- 
backs are  amply  compensated  by  the  bold  banks,  extensive  improvements,  and 
striking  natural  features  along  its  course.  At  and  above  Lismore,  it  is  a  fine  deep 
inland  river,  pursuing  its  peaceful  course,  and  gliding  among  the  trees  and  under- 
wood which  adorn  the  lovely  valley.  The  newly-made  roads  across  the  Knockmel- 
down  and  Kilworth  ranges  to  Clogheen  and  Mitchelstown,  now  also  afford  great 
facilities  to  those  who  wish  to  ascend  the  mountains,  or  to  explore  the  dells,  glens, 
and  table-lands  of  this  interesting  district. 


END    OF    VOL.    I. 


DA 
975 
W73 
v.l 


Willis,  Nathaniel  Par 
The  scenery  end  en 
cf  Ireland 


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